The Melody of the Fox
by Jetslinger
Summary: Naruto is determined to bring Sasuke back to Konoha. However, someone he didn't expect wants to help. NarutoxTayuya.
1. Chapter 1

**The Melody of the Fox**

**By: Jetslinger**

**Summary: **Naruto is determined to bring Sasuke back to Konoha. However, someone he didn't expect wants to help.

**A/N: I'll try to keep my Author's Notes as sparse as possible throughout the story. My notes will only pertain to the story, or if I'm discontinuing/leaving for more than a month. Really, I don't like it when authors jack up their word count by adding in short skits or answering reviews. However, this doesn't mean I won't answer your questions. Please don't hesitate to ask me something about the story :P. With that said, enjoy the story, and please R&R!**

**EDIT: It seems that this site doesn't like the characters I use to change scenes. Sorry about that.**

**Scene change '--------------------'**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter 1**

"Fuck." Only a few hours ago, Tayuya and her team had been making a mad dash towards Orochimaru's lair to deliver Konoha's precious Uchiha. Only an hour ago, she'd been just about the kill the pineapple-headed chuunin of the Leaf. That is until the sand bitch and her fucking weasel buried her under nearly an entire forest of trees.

"Fucking shit this hurts." Tayuya smiled grimly despite her pain, almost expecting Jirobou to chide her for her foul langauge. They were all dead. Sakon, Ukon, Kidomaru, Jirobou, Kimimarou; she'd felt it when each of them died. She didn't consider them friends, but they were all the foul mouthed sound nin had. All for the precious Uchiha.

"Faggot ass prettyboy." She muttered. Her eyelids felt heavy all of a sudden, and she knew she'd be joining her team shortly in hell. "Too bad I have go out like a pussy." Tayuya's eyes slid shut, ready to accept the cold embrace of death.

--------------------

"Oi, Kakashi." Pakkun glanced back to make sure his summoner was paying attention. The jounin was currently carrying Naruto on his back, followed by two Konoha medic nin. Naruto had failed to bring back his teammate, and his injuries were extensive; even for the demon vessel.

"Yes, Pakkun?" The summoned dog pointed a paw towards his right.

"There's someone still alive over there." Kakashi cast a lazy glance towards the dog.

"Is it one of ours?" Pakkun shook his head.

"I can't tell from here. We'll have to get closer." The copy-nin shrugged.

"We should at least check it out." He motioned for the medic nin to follow him towards the scent. Ten minutes later, they were standing in front of what used to be a fairly large area of forestry. It seemed as though something had leveled everything within a 100 yard radius of where they stood.

"Kakashi." The jounin nodded and jumped over to where his summon was sniffing around. "It's a girl." She was trapped under a large group of trees; one crushing her right arm, and several over her legs and torso. Kakashi crouched down next to Pakkun.

"She's with the Sound. Her clothes are similar to the ones Orochimaru wore when he attacked the village." The dog grunted.

"So do we just leave her here?"

"No, let's take her in. Maybe Ibiki can get something out of her about Orochimaru's next move." He trailed a lazy eye over the fallen trees. "Everyone stand back." He handed Naruto to one of the medic nin and made a few handseals. "Raikiri!" The jounin yelled, thrusting his chakra infused palm into the trees. They were quickly split and tossed aside, allowing them to reach the fallen kunoichi. One of the medic nin performed a quick examination on the unconcious girl.

"She's still alive, but we have to hurry up and get her back to Konoha. There's not much we can do for her here." Sighing loudly, Kakashi picked the girl up bridal style.

"Let's Go."

--------------------

'It's freaking cold in here.' That's the first thought that went through Uzumaki Naruto's head as he awoke from his slumber. He groggily rolled out of bed to adjust the thermostat, only for his feet to touch the cold, hard tile of the hospital room instead of the warm, soft carpet of his bedroom. "What the hell?!" He yelped, quickly jumping back onto his bed. After a few seconds of panic, he quickly realized where he was. White, impersonal ceilings? Check. Cold, hard tile floors? Check. The constant buzzing and whirring of hospital machinery? Check.

He was in the Konoha General Hospital.

The genin sighed and cautiously stepped back onto the floor. 'No use sticking around here, the bastard fox has already healed everything.' he thought to himself. Naruto poked his head out of the door to see if anyone was around before stepping out of the room and making his way down the hall. Before he could reach the staircase that led to his freedom, a small cough was heard from behind him. He nervously turned around to see the Godaime Hokage staring darkly down at him.

"Naruto-kun? What are you doing out of your room?" She questioned in a falsely sweet voice.

"I was...er...gotta go!" The genin yelled before attempting to dash down the stairs and out of the hospital. Unfortunately, he didn't count on a masked ANBU suddenly appearing in front of him and knocking him onto his backside. Tsunade grinned evily before gripping the boy by the back of his hospital gown and dragging him down the hallway...in the opposite direction of his room. Naruto gulped nervously. "Wh-where are we going?"

"Someplace where I can be sure you'll never escape." She answered with a small bit of evil joy in her voice. Stopping suddenly, she threw open the door to an ANBU guarded room and tossed him inside. The Hokage then turned to the ANBU stationed at the door. "Make sure he stays in this room unless I or Shizune say otherwise. Got it?" The ANBU nodded as Tsunade turned on her heel and walked away. "Have fun with your new roommate, Naruto!" She yelled over her shoulder. The blond grumbled as he picked himself off the floor.

"Damn hag, sticking me in a hospital room with..." His eyes trailed over to the other occupant of the room, curious as to who he'd be spending the next few days or so with. The boy's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he got a good look at his roommate. Her long red hair was almost impossible to see under the bandages covering her head, and the large cast encasing her right arm and legs made her look almost like a mummy. However, it was hard to forget the scowl that seemed to permanently mar the girl's face.

"YOU!" He yelled, pointing an accusing finger at his roommate. The girl in question turned away from the window to glare at the loudmouthed blond. What he saw stunned him. Her face was still scrunched up into a scowl, but it lacked any of the fire or malice that was present when they first met in the forest. Calming down a bit, Naruto shook his head in disbelief.

"What are you doing here?!" Instead of answering, the girl turned back to the window. Naruto narrowed his eyes and took a step closer.

"Oi! Say something!" The girl continued to ignore the genin, much to his chagrin. Fed up, he hopped onto her bed and straddled her bandaged legs. "What the hell's your problem?!" The girl snapped her head away from the window and leaned forward to get into his face.

"You want to know what my fucking problem is? Huh?!" Tayuya screamed, struggling against the cast covering her lower body. "I was beaten by a pineapple-headed faggot and his whore of a girlfriend, buried under fifty fucking tons of forestry, told I'd never fucking walk again, and now I have to deal with a loud mouthed shithead who thinks orange is a normal color for a ninja!" Her breathing was labored by the time she finished her rant, and her good arm was grabbing the front of Naruto's hospital gown for emphasis. Unfortunately for both of them, the Hokage chose that moment to slam open the door and stroll inside.

"What the hell is going on in here?! I can hear you two screaming all the way down the hall!" Tsunade yelled, her face pink with rage. Her expression gradually changed from anger to one of mild amusement. "You work fast, don't you kiddo?" Her grin widened as she watched the genin yelp in horror and fall headfirst onto the floor. Tayuya snorted in mild amusement.

"Baka."

"Y-you shut up! It's your fault I fell in the first place!" Naruto growled, rubbing the growing lump on his head. The sound nin's eyes widened in disbelief.

"My fault?! Don't fucking blame me for your utter lack of coordination, dipshit!"

"Says the cripple..."

"WHAT?!"

Throughout the exchange, the hokage's grin grew into a full blown smile. Before she'd been thrown into a room with Naruto, the girl had barely spoken more than two words to anyone. Those two words were 'Fuck' and 'You.' Amazingly enough, she was willingly speaking to the number one surprising ninja. Granted, she was screaming obscenities at the top of her lungs, but it was better than the weak glares she usually sent towards everyone. A plan began to form in her mind as she watched Tayuya bop the genin upside his head with her good hand. If things went the way she planned, she might even be able to kill two birds with one stone! Smiling triumphantly, she schooled her face into an angry expression.

"QUIET!"

Both teens quickly shut their mouths. Satisfied, she continued.

"I don't care who started what, or what the hell happened. You." She said, pointing at Naruto. "Get in bed." The genin quickly scrambled to his own bed, shooting a quick glare to his roommate. "You. Don't talk him." She said, pointing at the glaring red head.

"I ain't one of your damn grunts, Hokage-_sama_," Tayuya snarled, adding sarcastic emphasis to her title. "I'll do whatever I damn well please, and there ain't shit you can do about it." The older woman grinned mischievously.

"Oh? Well, as of now, you are hereby instated as a genin of the Leaf. Congratulations." Tayuya's eyes widened in disbelief.

"W-what the fuck?!" She sputtered, jaw nearly reaching the bed. Naruto had a similar look on his face.

"Have you finally gone senile, Baa-chan?!"

"My legs are fucked up! How can I be a ninja with fucked up legs?!"

"She's the enemy! This bitch was one of the bastards who tried to kidnap Sasuke!"

"I won't do it! There's no way I'll join you shitty rats or live in your faggot-infested village! I'd rather die first!"

Grinning on the inside, Tsunade slammed her foot down onto the floor. The whole hospital seemed to shake, and a few screams of bloody murder were heard from the floor below. "Listen up, brats!" She growled, screwing her face up into the angriest face she could manage. "What I say goes! Besides, you don't need legs to work at the Academy."

The room went dead silent.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!"

Naruto immediately began laughing at the grief-stricken face of the former sound nin. Predicting this, Tsunade grinned.

"And you will be her escort."

This time, Naruto's face paled in disbelief. "Nani?! But I have to train to bring Sasuke back!" The hokage shrugged with indifference.

"Oh well. Looks like the Uchiha is screwed, then." Sighed the older blonde. Tayuya cracked a small smile.

"Literally." Her smile became a giggle, and before long, she was cackling wildly at the vivid images that passed through her mind. The blonde genin looked confused for a few seconds before his face contorted in horror.

"EWWWWW!" While both genin were occupied with their own amusing/sickening thoughts, Tsunade took the chance to slowly slip out of the room. Not long after, Tayuya stopped laughing long enough to wipe a stray tear from the corner of her eye. She looked around the room and noticed the missing presence of the hokage.

"Oi, where'd the bimbo go?"

--------------------

Outside of the genins' room, the hokage hummed a happy tune to herself. Just as she was about to head down the stairs, a blur of pink appeared from her right.

"Tsunade-sama! Naruto's gone! He's--"

"In room 223. You should pay him a visit. He needs all the support he can get right now." She said, chuckling lightly. The genin tilted her head in curiousity before nodding and running off toward her teammate's new room. Oh, this was going to be good.

--------------------

"NARUTO! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" Sakura yelled, throwing the door open. Both occupants stared in surprise at the pink-haired genin.

"S...Sakura-chan..." Naruto stammered, lowering his head to stare at his hands. He bit his lip before speaking again. "I'm sorry. I didn't keep my promise. I couldn't bring Sasuke back." His teammate shook her head and smiled weakly.

"Don't worry about it, okay Naruto? Next time...next time we'll do it together!" Naruto snapped his head up in shock before a small smile stretched his way on to his face. Unfortunately, the moment was ruined by the other occupant of the small hospital room.

"Pfft. There's no way you fuckwads could ever hope to match Orochimaru in battle. That bastard's freakin' invincible!" Sakura glared at the girl, just now noticing that there was someone else in the room with them.

"Oh? And how would you know that?" Tayuya chuckled pitifully to herself.

"I used to se--" Naruto sprang up and clamped his hand over the former sound nin's mouth. Shortly after, she took a large bite out of the offending appendage.

"Ouch! That hurt!" Tayuya snorted in indignation.

"Serves you right, bastard." While the blond nursed his currently throbbing hand, his teammate shook her head and turned towards the door.

"I don't know who you are, but Naruto and I will bring Sasuke-kun back." She glanced back at the foulmouthed genin with contempt. "Believe it." She slammed the door on her way out, leaving both patients in mild shock. Tayuya blinked a few times before turning back to the window. The sun would be setting soon, and she'd finally be able to get some sleep after a somewhat stressful day.

"Oi!" Of course, she spoke too soon.

"What the hell do you want?" Naruto scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. In all of the chaos that had ensued within the last couple of hours, he'd forgotten to ask.

"Ah...er...what's your name?" Tayuya narrowed her eyes.

"Why the fuck should I tell you?"

"Hey, I don't care either, but if I'm going to be wheeling you around all day I'd at least like to know the name of the person who's stopping me from training!" Tayuya snorted and turned back towards the window. After a few seconds of silence, she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

"...Tayuya." The blond genin smirked a bit at his roommate.

"Uzamaki Naruto. The man who's going to become the Hokage."

--------------------

Tsunade sat at her desk, furiously signing and stamping her approval on a large stack of forms sitting on the edge of her desk. It was well past ten, and she'd usually be passed out in a drunken stupor by now. However, thanks to her 'genius' plan, she was stuck alone in the brightly illuminated office, working harder than she ever had in her two months of being the hokage. 'Kami, what the hell was I thinking?' she thought, sighing as she signed off on another release form. 'Turning a ninja from an enemy village into one of our own? I must be losing my mind.' Most of her complaining was due to the paperwork required to perform such an action. Not only did she have to instate Tayuya as a genin of the Leaf, but she also had to drop all charges against her for the attempted kidnap of Sasuke and the assisted murder of the Sandaime Hokage. She could only hope that the council would see her reasoning. Surely a ninja of the Leaf would give up information if their home was in danger of attack, right? Pairing the girl up with Naruto would only speed up the process. He had a certain knack for getting people to see things his way.

"Tsunade-sama! I thought you finished all of your paperwork for the week?" Shizune asked, startling the older woman out of her thoughts.

"Oh, uhm...just catching up on a few things I missed last week. Go on home, I'll be there soon." Shizune narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the Godaime Hokage. She never willingly did paperwork, and judging by her disheveled appearance, she'd be working for Kami knows how long. Shuffling closer to her mentor, she attempted to take a look at the large stack of papers strewn about on the large oak desk.

"What's this? You're adding a new ninja to the ranks? Who?" She asked, trying to read the name haphazardly scribbled on the form. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she realized who it was. "Tsunada-sama! You can't be serious! Are you aware of what you're trying to do?!" The hokage rubbed her temples, absentmindedly reaching for her hidden bottle of sake.

"Yes, I'm serious, and yes, I know what I'm doing. You have to trust me." Her apprentice stared at her with doubt. Sighing, she continued. "I paired her up with Naruto-kun. You've seen what he can do for people; I doubt this girl will be any different. She knows the location, layout, and overall population of the Sound village, how strong their shinobi as a whole are, and maybe even what Orochimaru has planned in the near future. Can we really afford to pass this chance up?" Shizune hung her head in defeat.

"I...I guess not. I still don't like it, though. What if it doesn't work? What if she hurts Naruto-kun in the process?" Tsunade waved her hand dismissively. It was just like her apprentice to look for the bad in everything.

"Don't be so pessimistic. Everything will work out in the end, you'll see." The young medic-nin bit her lip in worry.

"I hope you're right, Tsunade-sama."

--------------------

"Naruto?" A young man poked his head into the room. A large scar was visible across his nose, and his long brown hair was bound into a tight ponytail on the top of his head. Umino Iruka had just returned from his mission early that morning and arrived at the hospital just as visiting hours began. Of course, he made a quick stop at a certain ramen stand; a fact that didn't go unnoticed by the genin in question.

"Iruka-sensei!" A yellow blur tackled him around the waist, nearly spilling the contents of the small brown bag in his hand. "Is that for me?" He asked, eyes wide and shining. His former teacher couldn't help but to laugh at his childish antics.

"Sure is! I figured you'd be tired of the hospital food by now. Though it's gotten better since Tsunade-sama arrived, it still has a slightly chalky taste." A snort was heard from the other side of the hospital curtain.

"You can say that again." Iruka lifted an eyebrow in confusion.

"Naruto, you have a roommate?" The genin stopped drooling and glanced towards the curtain separating him from the recently instated genin.

"Oh, yeah. That's just Tayuya. Me and her are gonna be helping out at the Academy for awhile." Iruka shook his head.

"She and I. I swear, they should add an extra year to teach you all more than basic math and grammar. You never know when it could come in handy on a mission." The man gave the bag to an eager Naruto, watching as he immediately pulled the plastic cover off of the container and dug in with the wooden chopsticks provided. After inhaling a sizable amount, he sighed and grinned widely.

"Ahh, I forgot just how good Ichiraku's could be!" Iruka chuckled and patted the boy on the head. The teacher's face suddenly turned deathly serious as he seated himself on a stray chair sitting near the bed.

"Naruto, are you alright?" Noticing his serious tone, the blonde stopped slurping the noodles long enough to crack a wide foxy grin.

"I'm fine, Iruka-sensei. I heal really fast, so I should be out of here by tomorrow." Iruka nodded, satisfied with his answer.

"I'm glad. I'd better get going, I have quite a few tests to grade before class tomorrow. See you soon!" He said, waving on his way out. Naruto simply nodded and finished drinking down the ramen's broth.

"So who was that fucker? Your jounin-sensei or somethin? Sounds like a weakass." She asked, pulling back the curtain with her good arm. Naruto scowled at her.

"Take that back! Iruka-sensei's stronger than you'll ever be!" He yelled, dropping the empty bowl onto the white tiled floor below. Tayuya's normal scowl deepened in response.

"The fuck I will! What're you gonna do, kick my ass and make me take it back?!" She snarled. 'Who the hell does this guy think he is, ordering me around like I'm some punkass Leaf shinobi.'

"You're just jealous because you don't have anyone who cares about you at all!" He shouted, the words flying out of his mouth before he could think. As soon as he said them, he immediately regretted it. Tayuya's eyes were wide with shock, and her jaw hung limply at the hinges. She soon recovered and turned her head away from him.

"At least you're not the spineless fucker I thought you were." Tayuya joked, her voice carrying a slight waver. 'Damnit! Why the hell am I showing weakness? It must be this shit they're feeding me; it's bad enough to make anyone cry' she reasoned to herself. Naruto stared at her for a few more minutes before settling down into his bed. He was still a bit tired from his fight with Sasuke, even if he did heal faster than humanly possible. He'd apologize later; as soon as he woke up.


	2. Chapter 2

**Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 2**

The next day, Naruto and Tayuya stood in front of the Hokage's desk. Or rather, Naruto stood and Tayuya sat in a wheelchair next to him. He played with the zipper on his orange jumpsuit, struggling to zip it up to his chin. He only had two more at home, and they all felt a bit tight since his fight with his former teammate. Tayuya wore simple black ninja pants and a dark blue long sleeved shirt. The bandages on her head and left arm were still present, but she'd been able to get out of her leg casts in favor of a couple of small metal braces. The hokage finished signing off on one last sheet of paper before leaning back in her chair.

"Finally! That's the last of them." She reached into her drawer and tossed a Leaf hitai-ate to Tayuya, who deftly caught it with her left hand. "Congratulations, you're an official genin of Konoha. By wearing this headband, you acknowledge that you will protect this village and the people in it with your life, blah, blah, blah. Do you accept?" Tayuya cocked an eyebrow at the blonde.

"Do I have a choice?" She asked, fingering the thick cloth of the headband. Tsunade nodded.

"Actually, you do. You can either become a Konoha ninja or I can turn you over to Morino Ibiki for interrogation." She smirked inwardly. She was bluffing, but they didn't need to know that. Naruto's face visibly paled in recognition of the name. Though he hated to admit it, the scarred special jounin had quite an effect on him.

"Ah...Tayuya, I think you should just accept." He whispered. The girl eyed him strangely, noticing the slightly nervous look on his face. "He's...he's a really scary guy." Instead of arguing, she turned back to the godaime and nodded.

"Fine, but I ain't gonna like it." She lifted the headband towards her escort expectantly. He stared at the headband in confusion, an action which quickly annoyed his red haired companion. "Put it on me dipshit! I only got one arm!"

"Shut up! I'm not psychic, geez." He grabbed the headband and move to put it on her forehead before pausing. "Where do you want it?" She titled her head in thought.

"Tie it around my neck." The blond grunted and tied the cloth into a loose knot around her neck.

"Happy?"

"Fuck no."

"Tch, not even a thank you..." The fifth slammed her fist down onto the desk, effectively quieting the teens down.

"Listen up!" She bellowed, causing Naruto to flinch. "Both of you are to report to room 23 at the Academy. I've arranged for one of the chuunin teachers there to assign you a few tasks to keep you busy." Tayuya frowned deeply in response.

"Yeah, one problem blondie. My. Fucking. Legs. Don't. WORK." Tsunade smirked.

"I've informed them of your condition, so whatever they set up won't require a whole lot of movement. If there's nothing else, get out of my sight." She drawled, waving them off. Grudgingly, Naruto grabbed the handles of his new teammate's wheelchair and began to push her towards the door. He accidentally pushed her legs into the door frame, earning himself a hard elbow in the side.

"Watch where you're going, dipshit!"

"Yes, Tayuya-_hime_."

"S-Shut up and push!" Lucky for her, neither of the genin turned around to see the mile wide grin Tsunade had on her face.

_'Part one of operation "Skin Orochimaru's scrawny ass" complete.'_

**--------------------**

They were everywhere. Laughing, taunting, torturing. Little horns protruded from their large melon-shaped heads, and large globs of blood clung to their faces as if they had just eaten twenty shinobi alive right before they had arrived. At least that's what Tayuya saw when nearly a dozen Kindergartners swarmed her as soon she had appeared through the door of room 23.

"Read us a story!"

"Wanna play dress up?!"

"Hey! What's wrong with your legs?"

"Can I sit in your lap?"

"Is he your boyfriend?"

Tayuya sat mortified amongst the large group of five year olds. When the hokage mentioned they would be working at the Academy, she assumed they would be filing papers or showing ten year olds how to throw a kunai. Never in a million years would she have expected something as inhumane as this. She glanced up at Naruto and was glad to see that he was equally shocked. At least she could be sure that he wasn't in on this. The chuunin who had shown them the room snickered slightly at their expressions before turning and making a mad dash down the hallway.

"Have fun! They really like stories!" He yelled over his shoulder, turning a corner at record breaking speed.

_'That has to be some kind of escape jutsu...'_ Naruto thought as he watched the shinobi flee from the classroom. A slight tug of his pants snapped him from his thoughts.

"Ne, Onee-chan, are you our new sensei?" The genin glanced down to see a sickly brown haired boy staring up at him with large, hopeful eyes.

"I...uh...y-yes?" A large chorus of cheers went throughout the room. A few of the toddlers darted off to grab books, blankets, and pillows, much to the genin's confusion. It wasn't until the same little boy held up a large book to Tayuya that they understood. Her eyes widened and she began to shake her head ferociously.

"No! Not a fucking chance in hell!" She screamed, attempting to hop out of her chair and crawl towards the door. Unfortunately, a little girl had somehow made her way into the genin's lap, foiling her escape plan. Her escort snickered and waved an admonishing finger in front of her face.

"Watch your language, Tayuya-_sensei_. There are children in the room." She growled and practically snatched the book from the little boy, only further amusing the blond; who was suspiciously three steps closer to the door. Tayuya narrowed her eyes and smirked.

"Where are you going, Naruto-_sensei_? I'm going to need someone to turn the pages for me. I only have one arm, after all." She asked in a sickeningly sweet voice, using his own sarcasm against him. Realizing he'd been caught, Naruto groaned and sat down in the empty chair closest to her. Grinning to herself at the small victory, she turned to read the title of the book in her hand.

"The Princess and the Fox." The girl glanced up to see that every set of eyes in the classroom was watching her intently. Though it was a little unnerving, she was happy to see that they were at least being quiet. When they were quiet, she didn't have the incredibly powerful urge to roast them over a large flaming pit of charcoal. Alive. Naruto reached over and turned the cover so that she could continue. "Once upon a time, there was a Princess who lived in a beautiful castle. Many of the animals loved her, but none of them loved her more than her friend the fox." She picked the book up to show the children the pictures before turning to the next page herself.

"Hey! You don't need me to turn the pages for you!" Naruto yelped, shooting up from his chair. Tayuya grinned.

"Deception is one of the tricks to being a ninja, isn't it? Now sit down and let me continue." Looking back down at the book, she continued. "One day, the Princess decided to visit her friend the Wizard." The girl glanced up to make sure that Naruto was still in the room. She noticed with some surprise that he wasn't in his seat anymore; he was sitting on the large blanket with the toddlers, a few of them leaning against him as they listened to the story.

"What happened next, Tayuya-sensei?" the girl in her lap asked, snuggling back against her.

_'What the fuck?'_ The genin asked herself, blinking in surprise at the foreign feeling. Deciding it wasn't completely uncomfortable, she continued on with the story. "The forest was thick and dangerous, with giant weasels, frogs, and snakes at every turn. But the princess wasn't afraid; she knew her friend the fox was watching her."

Tayuya snorted. _'Who writes this shit?'_ "After walking for awhile, she came upon a giant white snake. _'Where are you going, little girl?'_ The snake boomed, staring with big yellow eyes at the princess." A shudder went through her as she absentmindedly fingered her cursed seal, an action which didn't go unnoticed by Naruto. "But the princess wasn't afraid; She knew her friend the fox was watching her. The princess stood up straight and looked the snake in the eye. _'I'm going to visit my friend the Wizard, Orochi-san.'_ She said, unaware that she was being hypnotized by the snake's big yellow eyes."

A gasp went through the crowd of toddlers, the loudest of all coming from her escort. She fought to keep a smirk from breaking out onto her face at their expressions. Even she had to admit that she was really starting to enjoy having all of the attention focused on herself for once. "The big white snaked smiled evily and slithered his way over to the princess. _'Well, princessss...'_ the snake hissed, wrapping himself around her. _'Allow me to esssscort you there.'_ With the princess wrapped in his slimy skin, the big white snake headed for his lair. Just as he was about to enter his home, a golden fox appeared and..." Tayuya trailed off, glancing up at the clock. "...that's the end of storytime!" The children all stared at her in disbelief.

"NANI?!"

"You can't just end it there!"

"What happened to the princess?"

"Did the giant snake eat her?"

"C'mon Tayuya-sensei, finish the story!"

Tayuya grinned maliciously to herself. Though it wasn't quite as entertaining as watching the little demons roast, it would have to do; for now. Naruto stood up and grinned. "She's right, guys. It's snack time!" Their disappointment forgotten, the toddlers all hopped up and ran to their little plastic tables and chairs. After setting down a few cookies and a carton of milk in front of each of the children, the genin inched their way towards the door; only to back into the same sickly little boy from before. His eyes were wide and his lips were puffed up into a small pout.

"You'll come back and finish the story, won't you Tayuya-sensei?"

The girl blinked and forced a small smile onto her face. "Uhm.. sure..."

"Jin!"

"...Jin." Seemingly satisfied, the boy bounced off towards the others. Not wanting to risk being stopped again, Naruto grabbed her wheelchair and practically raced down the hall and out of the academy, not stopping until he was well into the residential district of Konoha. After receiving another sharp jab in the ribs from Tayuya, he finally slowed his pace down to a walk.

"So...did you enjoy storytime?" Naruto asked, stepping back far enough to avoid another jab from the irate redhead.

"What the fuck do you think, Blondie? Those little fuckwits almost drove me mad!"

"Looked like you were getting into it to me."

"I was not!"

"Are you sure, Princessss?" He asked, imitating a voice she'd done previously. The girl blushed and stared forward.

"Just shut up and push, dipshit." The blond genin laughed and continued on down the street. They walked on in silence until she cleared her throat. "Hey, Naruto..."

"Eh?"

"I uh...wanted to apologize. For the shit I said about your teacher yesterday." Naruto blinked in surprise. He'd only known her for a couple of days, but he didn't think the word 'apologize' was even in her vocabulary.

"Oh..." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, I have to say I'm sorry for what I said yesterday. It...it wasn't right." She nodded and shrugged.

"Fine, we're even then. Don't get all sentimental and shit on me. So where the hell're we going now?"

"Well, _you're_ going back to the hospital._ I'm _going to train so that I can bring Sasuke back."

"What? Oh, fuck no! You're taking me with you!" He stopped in surprise.

"Nani? For what! You'll just get in my way!"

"There ain't no way in hell I'm gonna stay cooped up in that shithole of a hospital all day while you get to run around in the motherfucking sun!" By this time, a small crowd of civilians had gathered around the teens, whispering amongst themselves. "And just what the fuck are you cocksuckers looking at?!" The crowd quickly dispersed, though there was no shortage of glares or snide comments thrown her way.

"Geez, you guys are making a scene." A lazy voice said from behind them. Naruto turned in surprise.

"Shikamaru! How's Chouji? Neji? Kiba? Lee?" He asked, reprimanding himself for not asking about them earlier. Though, he couldn't be blamed when all of his thoughts were focused on his temporary teammate and Sasuke.

"They're all fine. Chouji and Neji got the worst of it, though." He said, grimacing slightly.

"It wasn't your fault. You did the best you could." Shikamaru nodded and glanced at the girl currently glaring at him from her wheelchair.

"Oi, you lived, huh? I have to admit, I'm more than a little surprised. I didn't think anyone could survive a blast like that." Tayuya glowered dangerously at the chuunin.

"I ain't weak like you shitty Leaf ninja."

"But aren't you one too?" He asked, taking notice of her headband. "How did you become a Leaf ninja anyway?"

"Tch, easy. You faggots are so fucking weak that the hokage herself had me instated to help you all out. Watch your back, bitch, 'cause I'm coming for your ass." She smirked up at him, practically daring him to reply.

"...even though you can't use your legs. Right." He continued on past Naruto and a fuming Tayuya. "Later, Naruto, Troublesome woman." Naruto snickered at her expression.

"He's right, you know. You can't use your legs. Back to the hospital!"

"Fuck. You."

**--------------------**

Naruto took a deep breath, focusing himself on the log in front of him. It slowly began to distort and shape into Orochimaru; the perfect target to take his anger out on. Lashing out with right hook, he rolled to his left and followed it up with a perfectly executed roundhouse. He then flipped over his target and gave it a strong donkey kick. The wood splintered slightly under the pressure, much to his delight. Punching the log a dozen times in succesion, he performed a perfect back hand spring and landed thirty feet away, taking deep breaths of air. All of this happened in a span of around five seconds.

"You suck!" A voice yelled from behind him. The blond turned around and flipped the person off.

"Shut up! Can't you see I'm training!"

"Oh, is that what you're doing? I thought you were doing the fucking chicken dance or something." Naruto's eye twitched in anger. He was already regretting not leaving her at the hospital.

"Okay, Tayuya-_sensei_, why don't you give me a few pointers?" He snapped his fingers in mock realization. "Ooh, that's right! You can't because you're stuck in a fucking wheelchair!" Naruto yelled, feeling a bit of the Kyuubi's chakra trying to slip out of him. Tayuya blinked. Just when she thought he was incapable of getting truly upset, he pulls a stunt like this. Strangely enough, she didn't get the smug satisfaction she usually got from making others angry. In fact, she felt slightly hurt. _'What the hell am I thinking? I've been trying to do this all along! It must be something in the food; those bitches are trying to turn me into one of them.'_

"Well _excuse_ me for trying to help your no-talent ass out!" This time, Naruto blinked. She actually wanted to help? He felt the small amount of sinister chakra quickly drain from his system.

"You...you want to help me? Why?" Tayuya again rubbed at the cursed seal on her neck, keeping her eyes low.

"I...I want to pay that bastard back for his 'gift.' Since I can't fuck him up myself, what better way than to have an indirect hand in training the fucker who knocks him off?" His eyes widened in disbelief. All this time, he thought she wanted to go back to the Sound and Orochimaru. Perhaps he wasn't the only surprising ninja in this village anymore.

"Did you accept it willingly?" She snorted and narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah, but when I did, he only me two things: One, that it would exponentially increase my chakra, and two, that it only had a one in ten survival rate. He didn't mention all of the bad things that came along with it." A sudden realization came to Naruto. If Tayuya had a cursed seal like Sasuke, she could help him study his weaknesses for when it was time to bring him back!

"Bad things? Like what?" The girl looked thoughtful for a few minutes.

"Well, for one thing, Orochimaru can pretty much control us if he wants to. Through our seals, the bastard can inflict an inhumane amount of pain on our entire nervous system. He can also stop us from using it altogether." She glanced up at him, only to find that he was practically raping her personal space. "Gah! What the hell are you doing?!" He blinked and leaned back.

"What do you mean? I was just looking at your cursed seal."

"J-Just go over there so I can help you train!" She yelled, pointing at the field in front of them. Just as he was about walk away, she grabbed his arm. "Wait." He looked back at her curiously.

"What?"

"Uh...can you take me out of this chair? It's hard as fuck." She asked, a light scowl marring her face. Shrugging, he quickly scooped her up in his arms and set her down under the shade of a large tree.

"How's that?" Tayuya leaned her head back and stretched, enjoying the feel of the lush grass beneath her and the freedom to move as she wished. Well, as free as one could without mobility in their legs.

"Fan-fucking-tastic." He stared at her for a few more seconds before smirking.

"You know, you're not as ugly as usual when you're not scowling." She quickly brought her arms back down and crossed them over her chest.

"Yeah, yeah. Get into your usual stance and I'll tell you what you're doing wrong." He nodded and happily settled himself into a stance that one of the Academy instructors taught him before he became a genin. "...Is that your stance?" She asked after he stopped moving.

"Uh, yeah?" The girl smirked, then grinned, then chuckled, and before long, she was full on guffawing. Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes as she began to choke on her own spittle.

"W-What the hell is that? Whoever taught you that shit was TRYING to get you killed!" She screamed in mirth. Naruto's eyes dimmed as his arms slowly lowered to his sides. Her laughter immediately quieted down as she noticed a drastic change in his usual somewhat cheerful expression. "Goddamn, you act like I ripped your balls off or something. I was just kidding about the trying to get you killed part. I'm sure they just didn't know what they were doing." His eyes hardened in anger.

"No, I think they knew exactly what they were doing." Tayuya almost gasped; almost. She couldn't believe that a teacher would purposely sabotage one of their students, no matter how annoying or dim-witted he was. What amazed her even more was that his jounin-sensei or precious Iruka-sensei didn't think to at least teach him the most basic of taijutsu stances. Even if she was just using him to take out Orochimaru, she didn't want her weapon to be in low spirits all the time. It made her feel bad about her own problems. Clearing her throat, she put on her cockiest smile and pointed forcefully at her escort.

"Stop looking like the pitiful brat you are and get back into that stance! I'll tell you what to do from there." She thought she saw a spark appear in his eyes as he immediately straightened up, albeit a little less sure of himself. "First of all, your weight should be on your back leg--good. Now, turn your front foot in a bit to give your self more balance. Doesn't that feel better? You'll be able to move much more efficiently like that." He looked over his shoulder and smirked.

"Looks like I'll really have to start calling you Tayuya-sensei now, eh?" Naruto joked, testing out the new form. He had to admit that it felt much more natural than the one Mizuki taught him. Tayuya flushed slightly and scowled.

"Shut the fuck up, I ain't doing this cause I like you or anything. I just don't want you to get your ass kicked by Orochimaru. Besides, this is the most basic form there is. Now lift your back arm up near your chest-- a little higher-- perfect. Stretch your other arm out in front of you-- not all the way out, dipshit-- yeah, that's good. Now you can strike and block from pretty much any angle, and move in nearly any direction." She smirked smugly as he took a few practice punches and kicks, looking much better than he did only ten minutes ago.

"Yes! Thanks, Tayuya!" She shrugged and waved him off.

"Don't thank me yet; you haven't used it in an actual fight." He smirked and put his hands together in a familiar sign.

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" A shadow clone popped into existence, much to the surprise of the former sound nin.

"Holy fuck, you never cease to amaze me." He smiled genuinely at the girl before settling himself into the new stance and sparring with his shadow clone. She couldn't keep a tiny smirk from slipping its way onto her face as she watched him. By the time she was done, Orochimaru won't know what hit him.

Both genin were oblivious to the angry pair of eyes watching their every move.


	3. Chapter 3

**Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 3**

Naruto sparred for a few more hours, even going as far as to create ten shadow clones to fight against. Every few minutes, Tayuya would call out tips or admonishments; most of them starting with an insult, of course. As time went on, the insults gradually turned into compliments, and she even began to hold back on the name calling. Sometime during his training, he'd shed his jacket and thrown it towards the foul mouthed redhead, causing the name calling to resume full force. After awhile, she became silent. _'I must be doing pretty good!'_ Naruto thought as he crouched down onto the ground, breathing heavily and glancing up at the night sky. The stars and moon were glowing brilliantly, a sign that it was at least after eight. He didn't realize so much time had passed since they'd left the Academy.

"Oi, Tayuya, ready to go back?" He called over his temporary teammate. When she didn't answer, he reluctantly stood and walked over to where she was reclining against the large tree. "Tayuya?" Looking closer, he realized that her eyes were closed, and her head was tilted off to the side at an awkward angle. It didn't take a genius to see that she was asleep. His discarded jacket was spread out over her torso; probably to ward off the cold. It did tend to get pretty cool in Konoha, after all. The genin stared a moment longer before reaching over to pick the girl up. What he didn't count on was her fist shooting up and punching him square in the jaw, sending him sprawling five feet into an adjacent tree. The girl blinked sleepily and yawned, rubbing at her eyes with the offending hand.

_'Huh, must've fallen asleep.' _She thought to herself, noticing it wasn't light outside anymore. She glanced at the area where Naruto had been training, only to see a battered training log and a few ninja weapons spread out on the ground. However, there was no sign of her blond escort. A small pang of anger washed over the girl. _'That bastard deserted me!'_ she shrieked in her mind, already thinking of ways to cause the genin pain. That is until she heard a strangled groan coming from her left. Tayuya snapped her head around to see Naruto lying sideways against a thick oak tree,tending to a large bruise on his cheek. She blinked in surprise.

"What the fuck happened to you?" Naruto glared at her and rolled himself onto his hands and knees.

"What happened?! You punched me!" He yelled, waving his arms in an exaggerated fashion. The girl blinked again.

"I did?" She glanced down at her fist in surprise. _'Huh, good to see my reflexes haven't dulled any.'_

"Yeah! What, do you think I hit myself?"

"Damned if I know. You might be some kind of masochist."

"A maso...what?" Tayuya shook her head in exasperation.

"Holy shit, you're stupid. Just put me in my chair and get me back to the hellhole you fuckers call a hospital." Shooting her one last glare, the blond stood up and walked over to the crippled genin. He pulled his jacket off of her first, attempting to put it on. The girl shivered and grabbed a hold of one of the sleeves. When he stared at her questioningly, she scowled and tugged on the sleeve a little harder. "It's cold as shit out here. Be a gentleman and let me use your jacket." She meant for it to be a suggestion, but it came out as more of a command.

"Will you be quiet and go back to the hospital peacefully if I do?" He asked, patting himself on the back for coming up with such a great idea. She nodded and pulled the jacket from his grip, immediately wrapping it around herself to ward off the persistent cold. After regaining a bit of her warmth from the heavy material of the bright orange jacket, Tayuya lifted an arm towards her escort.

"Hurry up, I'm freezing my ass off out here." Naruto scowled but bent down to pick her up bridal style. She wrapped her good arm around his neck and nodded after she established a firm enough grip. As he ascended to a standing position, both felt a small wave of killing intent from the forest around them.

"What the hell was that?" He asked, looking around for any sign of life. Tayuya was doing the same, immediately going into ninja mode despite her handicaps.

"I don't know, but we'd better get the fuck out of here before whatever it is decides to make itself known." Quickly setting her back into her wheelchair, Naruto formed some chakra in his feet and dashed off towards civilization while occasionally glancing over his shoulder to see if anyone was following them. Even as they ran, they felt the strange presence following them, the foul aura getting stronger and stronger with each step. Before long, they reached the densely populated market district. Thankfully, the killing intent immediately disappeared, allowing the genin to slow his pace to a brisk walk.

"That, was scary." He breathed, attempting to regain his breath back after the sprint. Normally he wouldn't be so tired, but he'd just spent the better part of the afternoon training his taijutsu. The girl nodded in agreement, trying to catch her own breath despite not doing anything.

"Fuck yeah, that was like some Freddy Kreuger shit." Both genin paused for a moment before bursting out into laughter. Civilians and ninja alike wisely edged their way around the howling teens, unsure as to whether they were psychotic or not. It took well over a minute for them to calm down enough to keep moving, although they both sported equally wide grins; a fact which still managed to creep out most of the citizens they came across. As they walked deeper into the market district of Konoha, Tayuya soon became aware of the glares and frowns sent their way. A few of the people muttered words under their breath, none that she could hear over the increasingly loud chatter. She glanced up to see that her escort was still grinning, albeit it was slightly strained from her vantage point. "Oi, dobe. What's with these shitheads? I thought the bimbo didn't tell anyone where I was from." His smile slipped a bit before widening into a full foxy grin.

"Oh, they're just upset about some pranks I pulled awhile back." He lied, skillfully skipping around the truth. It wouldn't do any good for her to know about the Kyuubi. She eyed him for a few seconds before shrugging it off. It wasn't her job to cross examine the boy.

"You must've pulled some fucking good ones, 'cause they look angry enough to slit your throat in your sleep or something." Naruto made an abrupt stop, nearly throwing the girl from her wheelchair. Her statement brought back some painful memories from his childhood.

"I thought you were supposed to be quiet." He said, his voice deathly cold. Tayuya looked taken aback at his sudden change in emotion.

_'What the shit? Is he bipolar?'_ she wondered, taking note of his dejected expression. Her face soon deepened into a scowl as she turned around and face forward again. What the hell did she care? It wasn't her fault the bastard had deep seeded problems. He soon began pushing her towards the hospital, though at a much quicker pace than they'd been traveling at before. Five minutes later, they arrived at the door to room 223. Even as he lifted her frail body onto the hospital bed, they didn't speak. He stared at her prone form for a few seconds, watching how the moonlight illuminated her features as she glared out of the window to her right. Naruto walked back to the doorway in silence, opening the door with a soft click.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, much to the girl's surprise. She snapped her head around to reply, but found that he'd already disappeared down the hallway. The smallest of smirks made its way onto her face.

"Idiot."

--------------------

"Gaaaaaaaaaaaah!" A feminine voice yelled while tossing papers into the air. "Where is it?! WHERE?!"

The fifth hokage was currently tearing her office apart, looking for her last bottle of sake. She knew she had another bottle left; she'd just restocked her secret stash yesterday! A perverted chuckle resounded in the nearly empty room.

"Lose something, Tsunade?"

The woman in question clenched her fists a few times to get rid of the stress that was steadily building up in her system. Turning to the window, she forced an angry grin onto her face.

"You wouldn't happen to know where my last bottle of sake went, would you, Jiraiya?" Jiraiya chuckled and took a swig from the bottle resting in his hand. Giving her a cheeky grin, he shook his head.

"Nope, not a clue." That was it. With a bloodcurdling scream, the godaime launched herself at her former teammate, fully intending to rip his spine from his body. The sannin deftly dodged her advances with a leering grin. "My, my, Tsunade-hime. I knew you wanted me, but this is a bit desperate; even for you." She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

"How the hell did you slip past all of the ANBU gaurds?" The toad hermit rolled his eyes.

"Those guys? Pfft. They don't call me a legendary sannin for nothing, you know." He said with a cocky wave of his hand. She sighed in exasperation.

"What do you want?" His expression immediately became serious, a sure sign that this was important. Dear Kami, she wished she had her sake.

"It's about Naruto." Tsunade groaned in response.

"Akatsuki?" She asked, hoping against hope that it was something smaller. Much to her chagrin, he nodded.

"Yeah. Judging from the information I received on my spy network, they're going to start moving in three years. As you know, Itachi and Kisame are quite powerful S-Ranked nukenin; I wouldn't stand a chance against both of them while trying to protect the kid at the same time." Tsunade sighed and buried her face into her hands.

"That's not it. I can tell." Even though he knew she couldn't see it, he shook his head and sighed.

"Not only are Akatsuki planning on kidnapping Naruto, but there is a rumor going around that Orochimaru's cooking up a war against Konoha right after he transfers to Sasuke's body. Iwa and Kumo are also rumored to be in on this war. They both have large grudges against Konoha, you know." Tsunade groaned loudly, desperately wishing she had even a sip of sake.

"So what is it that you want?" She asked, not moving from her position.

"I want to take Naruto on a training trip for three years. I'll teach him how to use the Kyuubi's chakra effectively, and also a few other things like tracking and battle strategy. This way, he'll be able to defend himself against Akatsuki's attacks and possibly be a defining factor in the war with Otogakure."

"No." Jiraiya nearly fell from his perch on the windowsill.

"No?! Why the hell not? Have you been listening to the things I've been telling you for the past five minutes?!" She lifted her head to glare pitifully at her teammate.

"I need him here to gather information on Orochimaru from a former sound nin." He frowned deeply in response.

"Just turn the bastard over to Ibiki! You know how good he is at interrogation! It is of the upmost importance that I teach Naruto everything he needs to know before the Akatsuki decide to move!"

"It's...it's complicated. I can't just turn her over to Ibiki, it wouldn't work." Jiraiya's eyes suddenly got a knowing twinkle.

"Her?" Realizing that she'd said too much, the godaime hung her head. He chuckled loudly and hopped down into the room.

"Dear Tsunade-hime, what have I told you about meddling?"

"Shut up."

"If it's that important to you, why don't I bring her along? You can assign a jounin to keep an eye on her while I train Naruto." She groaned for the second time that night.

"That won't work either. One, the girl can't walk. The bones in her legs are far too damaged for me to do anything about it, and nothing short of regeneration will fix them. Two, there isn't a jounin on the force who would take this job that I can afford to let go." Jiraiya frowned in thought.

"You know, now that I think about, this could really work out for the best. If Naruto is able to get the information from the girl before the three years are up, we could attack Orochimaru before he transfers to Sasuke and attacks us! By that time, Naruto will be plenty strong enough to take on Akatsuki and Sasuke. I'm a genius!" Tsunade blinked in frustration.

"Did you not just hear a word I said? The girl cannot walk. She will never walk." She said, speaking in a voice she'd use as if she were talking to a toddler. "And there isn't a jounin on the force who I can afford to let go. Must I repeat it again, baka?" The man chuckled and waved his hand.

"So her bones are practically dust. Big deal." He said, shrugging his shoulders. "Tell me Tsunade, how does your Genesis Rebirth technique work?" Tsunade stared at him as if he'd grown a third head.

"You should remember, you helped me make it! By releasing the chakra stored up in my forehead seal, I can instantly heal all of my wounds and even regrow limbs and organs if I need..." At this point her eyes widened in realization. She jumped to her feet and began to pace around the office, arms flailing around in excitement. "That's it! If we can recreate the same technique on Tayuya, She'll easily be able to restore her bones to their previous state! Jiraiya, you're a genius!" He smiled and nodded in agreement.

"I know, I know, you don't have to tell me." After her initial excitement wore off, she immediately slouched back on to her desk.

"But how will it work? We don't have the time for her to build up the chakra on her own, and neither of us has enough chakra to force into the seal ourselves. Hell, we don't even know how to cancel the technique after the required healing is complete." Jiraiya grinned as if expecting this response.

"Are you forgetting who I am? Besides the number one super pervert of Konoha, I am also a master of seals. I'm much more experienced than I was when we created your technique, Tsunade-hime. Give me a week and I'll cook something up. As for the required chakra...I happen to know a certain genin who has more chakra than an entire ANBU squad." She smirked.

"You really are a genius, you know that?" The hermit flashed her one of the true smiles he reserved for those closest to him.

"I know, dear, I know. Now, you'll have to find a jounin on your own Tsunade-hime, but you can leave the seals to me." Noticing that she was lost in her own thoughts, he snuck up behind the slug sannin and quickly groped her breasts. 'Ah, still as lovely as I remember!' he sighed before slipping out of the window. It wasn't until five minutes later that the hokage realized what he had done.

"JIRAIYA!"

--------------------

_'10:59. Where the fuck is he?!'_

Tayuya glanced at the clock again, sighing wearily to herself. Here she was, dressed and ready to go, and he was nearly half an hour late. Not that she was in any hurry to go on a cross village journey to the Academy with the blond idiot. No, she simply wanted to get out of this cold, impersonal room and out into the warm air of Konoha. Her eyes darkened slightly as she remembered the small spat they'd had last night. She was starting to believe that he wasn't even going to show, something that strangely upset her. _'I don't even know what the hell he was so angry about'_ she thought, remembering the extremely cold voice he had regarded her with. The genin sighed again and flopped back onto the bed, resigning herself to a day of lounging. Suddenly, she noticed a piece of bright orange cloth resting on the ground beside her. She stretched out to pick it up and recognized it as the same jacket Naruto had loaned to her the night before. _'Tch, the idiot forgot to take his shitty jacket with him.'_ She fingered the thick material of the coat. Glancing at the door one more time to make sure no one was coming in, Tayuya lifted the jacket to her nose and took a slight whiff. _'It smells like...ramen?'_ A sudden opening of the door surprised her out of her thoughts, and she quickly threw the garment back onto the floor. Tsunade's apprentice stepped through the door and blinked in surprise.

"Sorry, I thought you'd be gone by now." The woman glanced at the clock resting on the table to Tayuya's left. "Where's Naruto-kun? Aren't you two supposed to go to the Academy today?" Instead of answering, the girl snorted and looked away, occupying herself with watching a few bluebirds hop aroundand titter on the windowsill. Shizune smiled and moved to check the genin's medical chart. "I know you're waiting for him. You can't fool me." Again, she didn't reply. "He's strong, you know. He took on Orochimaru twice." The medic nin muttered, attempting to bait the girl into a conversation. She still had her suspicions about the former sound nin after all.

"Tch, yeah right." The older woman smirked behind the chart. Hook, line, and sinker.

"Oh, it's true. Once during the Chuunin exams, and once when he accompanied Jiraiya-sama to find the hokage." By this time, she had the genin's full attention. "Yep, he even learned one of the Fourth's legendary techniques in only a week." Okay, so she was stretching it a bit. He'd actually only learned the last step in a week, and required the use of a clone to execute it. But she didn't need to know that. Tayuya on the other hand was floored. She wasn't from Konoha, but she'd definitely heard of the Fourth Hokage. It was hard not to hear about a man who killed over a thousand Iwakagure ninja in under ten minutes. Not to mention that every now and then Orochimaru would mutter things about the Yellow Flash stealing his rightful position as the Hokage.

"You're shittin' me." Shizune shook her head.

"Nope. I also heard that he defeated Sabaku no Gaara, the demon vessel of the Shukaku." Tayuya's jaw was practically on the floor by now.

"...Are we talking about the same Naruto? Blond hair, stupid face, gay ass bright orange jumpsuit?" Tsunade's apprentice nodded and set the chart back in its resting spot near the end of the bed. "Huh. Maybe he's not as stupid as he looks. He's still one lucky fucker to face Orochimaru twice and live."

"I assure you, luck had nothing to do with it." Before the genin could say anything else, Naruto burst through the door, breathing heavily as he tried to form a coherent sentence.

"Sorry...Late...Overslept..." He breathed between gasps. Shizune smiled fondly at her surrogate little brother. He glanced up and grinned widely at the woman. "Hey, Shizune-nee-chan!" She nodded in response and slipped out of the door to hide her growing grin. She could always come back later and find out what she needed to know about the girl.

"You'd better hurry up and get to the Academy, Naruto-kun! Your friend looks a little antsy." The medic called from over her shoulder. The blond stared at Tayuya and lifted an inquiring eyebrow.

"Uh...ready to go?" He asked, scratching nervously at the back of his head. Tayuya scowled at him, but nodded. He quickly grabbed the wheelchair resting by the doorway and wheeled it over to his teammate's bedside. "Do you think the kids will be mad that we're late?" The boy inquired, setting her down in the chair. She shrugged slightly and picked up the orange jacket she'd discarded earlier, draping it haphazardly over her lap.

"Who gives a shit. It's not like they can do anything about it."

"Well, since you don't care, I'll make sure I tell them it's your fault."

"W-what? Oh, hell no. You're taking the fall for this one."

"I thought you didn't care?"

"I don't. I just don't like being blamed for shit I didn't do."

"Sounds like fear to me." With a well place elbow to his side, Tayuya quickly ended the argument. She frowned and pointed towards the door.

"Push."

"Yes, Tayuya-hime" he drawled sarcastically, dodging another elbow.

--------------------

To say that the kindergarteners were upset would be an understatement. Every single one of the children were glaring maliciously at the teens, even causing Naruto to take an unconcious step back. The chuunin instructor shot them a look of pity before quickly performing a Shunshin out of the room.

"Bastard..." Tayuya mumbled, glaring at the spot where the chuunin had previously been standing. She was broken from her thoughts when a large book was shoved into her hand, and the same little girl from the day before hopped into her lap without a word. Not wanting to provoke the children into doing something rash (Because they were, in fact, demons in disguise) the genin immediately popped open the book and turned to where they left off. Naruto had already settled himself among the kids, although he glanced nervously at them every few seconds. Yep, the little bastards were definitely demons.

"Tayuya...uh...can you start reading?" Her escort asked, motioning towards the impatient (and murderous) looking students. She nodded and cleared her throat harshly before beginning.

"Everyone knows where we left off, right?" After receiving a stiff nod of consent from the kids, she continued. "Just as he was about to enter his home, a golden fox appeared and snarled angrily at the snake. _'Let her go!' _the fox boomed, taking a large step forward. The giant white snake smiled and looked down at the fox. _'Little fox, do you think that you can defeat me in battle? Run along before I eat you too!'_" She made sure to change her voice to fit the characters, actually somewhat enjoying herself. It sure beat sitting an hospital bed all day.

The children gasped and murmered amongst themselves. If the snake ate the fox, what would happen to the princess? She took a quick surveying look around the room before continuing. "The fox was afraid, but he stood his ground. He launched himself at the snake, only to be knocked into a tree by the snake's giant head. The princess gasped in horror. _'No! Not my friend the fox!'_ She screamed, struggling against the snake's tight hold. _'Don't worry about me, save yourself!'_ But the fox only shook his head and smiled. _'As long as I have an ounce of breath left in my body, I will always protect you.' _Frowning, the snake launched himself at the wounded fox. _'I told you to not to meddle, and now you shall die!'_" Tayuya glanced up at the clock and grinned evily to herself. She snapped the book shut and set it down in her lap. "Sorry kids, it's snack time!"

Every jaw in the room dropped, including Naruto's.

"Not again!"

"Tell us what happens to fox!"

"Please?"

The red haired genin only shook her head and smiled. "Blame Naruto for getting us here late." The children's eyes drifted over to the genin sitting nervously in the middle of the classroom.

"Ah...I overslept?" He whimpered, not liking the glares he was getting.

"GET HIM!"

The sound of the Kyuubi container's screams could be heard all over the village, giving a few old women heart attacks and causing visitors waiting to get into Konoha to flee in terror.


	4. Chapter 4

**Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 4**

Ten minutes and one beat down later, the genin made a quick retreat out of the Academy.

"Ow...who knew kids that small could hit that hard?" Naruto asked, rubbing at a bruise on his cheek. Thankfully, he'd managed to protect his more sensitive areas from the irate kindergarteners. Tayuya snorted.

"Serves you right for being late, bastard." He grunted in response. They walked along in silence, a fact which didn't go unnoticed by the redhead. Unable to suppress her curiosity, she glanced up at Naruto. Amazingly enough, all of his bruises and cuts had already healed from his earlier beat down._ 'Holy shit, no wonder he survived after facing Orochimaru!' _Her eyes traveled from his injuries to his deep, cerulean eyes. While he was certainly aware of what was going on around him, his mind was quite obviously somewhere else. She could see the faraway look in his eyes, and couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking about.

Naruto on the other hand was deep in thought, completely oblivious to the curious stare of the ill-tempered girl. His hands tightened around the handles of the wheelchair as he thought of his fight with Sasuke. He hadn't had much time to think about it, only briefly reflecting on his feelings before falling asleep or while training. However, Sasuke's words constantly reverberated in his head. _'You are my closest friend, Naruto...and that is why I must kill you.' _It just didn't make any sense! Why would he want to kill his closest friend? His blank gaze hardened slightly as he thought about his training. While he would try his hardest to become strong, it was hard to deny the cold hard fact that he would never be able to match Sasuke if they met again. The bastard was getting training from one the Legendary Sannin, after all. For the first time since he became a genin, Naruto felt weak.

Tayuya was getting a kick out of the emotions playing over his face. First, he looked angry, then sad, then confused, then angry again before his face finally settled on depressed. She sighed and rolled her eyes in disgust. The idiot was probably thinking about Sasuke again. An odd feeling of jealousy resounded in her heart. If there was one thing she hated in life, it was being overlooked. Orochimaru had done it plenty of times with issues regarding the Sound Five, especially when it came to Kimimarou. After he'd arrived, her leader couldn't stop talking about how great his bloodline limit was, or how easily he would crush Konoha when the time came. Hell, if the bastard hadn't fallen ill before Orochimaru could transfer into his body, she doubted the snake would have given her any decent training at all. She'd be damned if Naruto overlooked her in favor of the faggot Uchiha.

"Oi, shithead! Wake up!" A few of the older villagers stared in shock at the girl's random outburst, appalled that the new generation of ninja had such filthy mouths. Much to her chagrin, the boy made no movement to show that he'd heard her. She scowled in annoyance. How dare he ignore her? Using all of her strength, she launched an elbow straight into his unsuspecting gut.

"Ouch! What the hell, Tayuya?!" He yelled, rubbing at his stomach. She noticed with some satisfaction that the pain didn't seem to disappear as quickly as it did when their temporary students beat him up.

"If you'd stop dreaming about your gay lover, maybe I wouldn't have to elbow the shit out of you!"

"I-I'm not gay!" Naruto yelled, eyebrows furrowing in anger. Just the thought of being with Sasuke sent a disgusted shudder through his body. Tayuya was more than amused at the reaction she got from him. She made a mental note to insult his sexuality more often.

"Hey, you don't have to prove it to me. What you and the faggot Uchiha did before he turned traitor is your own damn business. Where the hell are we going, anyway?" She asked, cutting him off before he could come up with a retort. A strange smile appeared on his face, almost as if he was never thinking about the Uchiha or her insults to his manhood.

"The best place in all of Konohagakure!" He exclaimed, pumping an energetic fist into the air. The corners of her mouth involuntarily twitched upwards at his upbeat expression. Though she'd never admit it to anyone, his smile was extremely infectious.

--------------------

When Naruto said he was taking her to the best place in all of Konoha, she thought he was taking her somewhere truly magical. A secluded lake, an extremely upscale restaurant, or hell, even the local park. Never in a million years would she have ever guessed a ramen stand. Her eye twitched in annoyance.

"Oi, Oji-san! Two bowls of miso!" The blond yelled, wheeling Tayuya into the small ramen stand. He didn't notice her clenching hand or her viciously annoyed expression; not until she attempted to jab him in the balls, anyway. Luckily, he was just quick enough to take a hasty step back.

"Baka! I thought you said we were going to the best place in all of Konoha?!" She complained, slightly irked that she'd missed her target. Naruto looked dumbfounded at her question.

"But...this_ is _the best place in all of Konoha! The people here are really nice, and the food is the best! Just give it a chance, I swear you won't be disappointed! Please, Tayuya?" He whimpered, using the infamous puppy dog eyes. The redhead sighed harshly and hung her head in defeat. Between his pitiful expression and large, pleading eyes, it was hard to deny the boy his ramen. She doubted that she could hate him anymore than she did right now. Wait, scratch that. There was _no possible way_ that she could hate him anymore than she did right now.

"Fine. This shit better be damn good, or so help me I'll..." She said, allowing the ominous threat to hang in the air. Naruto grinned brightly and picked her up out of the wheelchair, setting her down on an empty stool._ 'Well, at least it smells good.' _She thought, staring hungrily at the variety of toppings spread out behind the counter top. After a few days of eating nothing but hospital food (Otherwise known as shit), ramen was a much welcomed change. Drool slowly began to seep out of the corner of her mouth, and her stomach began constricting painfully in hunger.

"Uh, miss?" Tayuya quickly snapped out of her hunger-induced coma to see a teenage girl with brown hair staring at her in concern. She didn't look like a ninja, so she was obviously a civilian. But why the hell would a civilian be talking to her? Caught off guard, the genin said the first intelligent thing that came to her mind.

"Wha?" The civilian girl smiled brightly and lifted her notepad.

"I asked if you were ready to order."

"Oh, uh, sure. I'll have whatever the hell he's having." She said, jerking a thumb at the blond sitting to her left. Ayame nodded and relayed the order to her father, an old man with a seemingly gentle disposition. She could almost see why her escort liked the place. Despite its small size, the restaurant had a very cozy feel to it. It wasn't until a few seconds later that she realized Naruto was staring at her with something akin to shock. "What the fuck are you looking at?" She asked, suspicious of the awe-struck expression on his face.

"You...you don't want veggie ramen?"

"Veggie ramen? What the fuck would I want that shit for?" He continued to stare at her as if the answer was obvious.

"Well, aren't you watching your figure?"

"ARE YOU CALLING ME FAT?!" Tayuya exclaimed, causing the old man to grimace in sympathy for the poor boy. Though he seemed like a pretty good ninja, the boy clearly had no skill with the ladies. Naruto on the other hand waved his hands in front of him defensively and subconciously inched his way onto the opposite edge of the stool.

"N-no! It's just that well, Ino and Sakura-chan are always on diets, and they _always_ say that ramen's too fattening and that Sasuke-teme won't like them if they eat it and that if Sasuke-teme won't like them they'll never be happy and if they're not happy then I won't be happy cause then they'll want to beat _me_ up for making them fat and--" He rambled, hoping to avoid another beat down. Even if she was crippled, a woman scorned was still dangerous. She almost smirked at his fearful expression.

"I get the idea, dipshit. I just think it's stupid. Why the fuck would a kunoichi need to be on a diet? Shit, we jump through trees and train nearly every day of our lives."

"That's exactly what I said! But then, Sakura-chan would just hit me on top of the head for being stupid." He said, shrugging and turning to the freshly made ramen the chef had just set down in front of them.

"Itadikimasu!" Naruto exclaimed, wasting no time in grabbing his chopsticks and eating. He shuddered in pleasure as the noodles slipped down his throat. "Ohhh, that's good." His partner watched in mild horror as he slurped, sipped, and gobbled his way through the entire bowl while at the same time relaying the gory details of his latest mission to the old chef.

_'Damn, and I thought Jirobou could put it down fast. This guy puts the fatass to shame!'_ She thought, jaw nearly scraping the counter top.

"Ne, Tayuya, you should eat before your noodles get cold. They're not as good when they're all soggy and stuff." He said, already halfway through his second bowl. She was slightly amazed that he even remembered she was there. After all, it seemed as if he was in his own little ramen-filled world judging by the stupid grin plastered on his face as he ate. Deciding to take his advice, she broke her chopsticks and dug in with a quiet 'Itadikimasu.' She placed a few of the noodles into her mouth, swishing them around a bit to get a good feel for the taste. She chewed the noodles slowly and swallowed. An eager Naruto watched nervously as the girl inspected and thoroughly examined the noodles. "Well? What do you think?" He asked, trying not to look too interested.

"Hm. Pretty good." Tayuya shrugged and grabbed a larger serving, stuffing them haphazardly into her mouth. Okay, so she wasn't the most refined eater in the world.

"Really?!" The girl nodded and swallowed again.

"Yep, best damn ramen I ever had." Of course, she neglected to mention that it was her first time ever eating professionally made ramen; cup ramen didn't count. Her escort grinned widely.

"I think I can like you." He said, slurping a mouthful of noodles down his throat. The redhead sputtered noisily and choked on her ramen.

"W-what?!" Naruto turned Tayuya and gave her a wide toothy grin. A grin that looked disturbingly similar to Rock Lee's.

"I said, I think I can like you. There are no bad people among ramen lovers." The girl scowled and bopped him over the head with her good hand, sending him plowing face first into his half finished bowl of soup.

"Dobe, don't say shit like that when I'm trying to eat!" She angrily stabbed at her noodles and swallowed another large mouthful. Her escort grumbled and picked his face up out of the now empty bowl.

"Why do girls always hit me when I give them compliments?!" He whined, wiping at his face with the collar of his shirt. She grinned into her soup at his pitiful expression. Even if he was a dumbass, he was at least an amusing one. Drinking the last of her soup down, she glanced at the blond out of the corner of her eye.

"Who's payin' for this stuff anyway?" Naruto reached into his pocket and pulled out Gama-chan.

"I am, of course!" Tayuya snorted slightly at his extremely goofy purse. Just when she thought he couldn't look any stupider, he pulls something like this.

"How can you even afford this shit? I thought you were dirt poor." He pouted and crossed his arms in front of him with a very childish expression his face.

"Hey, I'm not poor! I still have a lot of money left over from when we fought Zabuza and Haku. And then that mission where I went to beat up Gaara, when I brought back Tsunade-obaa-chan, and then when we tried to bring back Sasuke." He shrugged and motioned for another bowl of ramen. "I haven't even cashed in my other mission payments." Tayuya blinked stupidly at the boy.

"So why the fuck are you wearing clothes that make you look a goddamn kunai target?!" Naruto grinned weakly.

"I like the color orange." She narrowed her eyes, but let the subject drop; for now. For some reason, that explanation didn't quite fly with her. It didn't matter to her though; eventually, she'd make him get some new clothes. Maybe if he actually looked like a ninja, she'd have more faith in his ability to beat Orochimaru.

Tch. Yeah right.

--------------------

**(fifteen minutes and five bowls of ramen later; one for Tayuya, and four for Naruto)**

"Ahh, I'm stuffed!" Naruto exclaimed, patting his stomach contentedly as they walked (and rolled) down the street. Nothing made him feel better than five or so bowls of Ichiraku Ramen; not even being able to land a hit on Sasuke when he had his Sharingan activated. He faltered momentarily at the thought of his former teammate. Even when he wasn't here he managed to haunt his thoughts.

"Where the hell does it all go?" She asked in wonder. While Jirobou could _probably_ (She couldn't judge how much Naruto ate after only meal with him, after all) stuff down twice as much as her escort, for his reasonably small stature he'd eaten quite a load. The boy shrugged again, an action which was very quickly annoying the former sound nin. He'd shrugged, grinned, or completely brushed off nearly everything she'd asked for the past few days. She pushed those thoughts aside and glowered up at Naruto. "Go somewhere with water."

"Huh?" Tayuya bit back a groan, instead opting to roll her eyes.

"Fuck, you're slow. We're going to train aren't we? Find a place with some water."

"Yes, Tayuya-_hime_." He grumbled under his breath as he made a sharp left turn into the residential district.

"Stop calling me that, jackass."

"You call me way worse names!" She gave him a rather unladylike snort.

"That's because you deserve it, dumbfuck!" Her breathing had become shallow, and her face was lightly flushed with rage. Screaming at the top of your lungs does that to a person. She couldn't help but feel extremely annoyed with the blond. There was just something so..._annoying _about him! Not even Kidomaru could piss her off to the point of screaming; well, not everyday at least. She'd usually just break an arm or three to get him off of her back, but she couldn't do the same to Naruto in her current condition. Unfortunate, that.

"We're here!" Naruto yelled after what seemed like a minute later. Tayuya snapped out of her thoughts and shook her head in disbelief. Either he'd put on a major burst of speed since she'd screamed at him, or she _really_ needed to stop zoning out. Taking a quick look around, she noticed that they were standing near a small stream set well into a large cluster of trees. There was plenty of shade from the tall trees in the area, and a few large, smooth stones littered the bank of the river; perfect for a picnic or quick break between training sessions. The place looked relatively undisturbed, and she couldn't stop the curiosity that welled up inside of her. Damn her uncanny need to understand everything about the world around her. Damn it to hell.

"How the fuck did _you_ find a sweet ass place like this?" She asked, fighting to keep from sounding desperate. "And if you shrug one more time I'll rip your motherfucking spine out." Okay, so much for not sounding desperate. He frowned slightly at her words. He didn't so much mind the language as he did the threats and insults that came along with it. It was starting to remind him of Sasuke (though he'd never actually used the word "dumbfuck").

"This place? Ero-sennin brought me here when he was teaching me water walking." Tayuya bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smirking at the nickname.

"Ero-sennin?"

"Yeah. He's really strong, but he's a super pervert. Why'd you want me to find a place with water?" The girl frowned slightly in thought.

"Well, since you already know how to walk on water, the only thing I can think of right now is training on the water." Naruto cocked his head in curiosity.

"Train on the water?" Tayuya nodded and lifted her good arm into the air, a signal that she wanted to be picked up. After he walked over and picked her up out of the wheelchair, she pointed towards one of the larger flat rocks resting by the bank of the river. He (not so gently) set her down and jumped back to avoid her deadly left hook.

"Careful, idiot!" She shouted, rubbing lightly at her rear end. He crossed his arms in indignation.

"Tell me what to do." Shooting one last piercing glare at her escort, she cleared her throat and raised her chin a little higher, subconciously assuming a teaching role.

"I already did. Walk onto the water, get into the stance I showed you yesterday, and fight against a shitload of Kage Bunshin." Naruto blinked dumbly at her.

"What the hell will that do?!" Tayuya sighed loudly. Maybe if she could slip into the water and drown before he noticed, she could end her prolonged torture. She almost wished that she had chosen to go with Ibiki; at least they'd only annoy her a few hours a day.

"Are you stupid, or are you just trying to piss me the fuck off?" She asked, giving him her most even glare. When he cocked his head again, she decided that he was just stupid. They'd definitely have to work on his brainpower over the next few years. "Okay, you know that you have to expel a certain amount of chakra to stay afloat, right?" The blond nodded. "Now, imagine expelling chakra for nearly an hour straight, while at the same time staying focused enough to fight one of your own kage bunshin _and_ trying to remember the stance I taught you yesterday." A little light bulb seemed to appear above his head.

"I get it! I can improve my chakra control while at the same time working on my taijutsu! Man, I wish someone had taught me this before!" He exclaimed, pulling off his shirt and shoes. As soon as he'd rolled his pants legs up to his knees, he hopped onto the water--and immediately sunk to the bottom. The redhead sweatdropped and shuffled closer to the edge of the rock.

"Oi, dobe! I thought you said you could walk on water!" She waited for a few seconds before speaking. "Hey, Naruto! Did all that ramen make you too heavy to float?" She yelled again. A slight feeling of worry began to make its way into her stomach. He'd been under for at least a minute by now. "Naruto! This shit ain't funny!" By now, she was right on the edge of the rock, peering down in worry at the water. If he drowned, she'd be pretty much stuck alone in the middle of nowhere. She couldn't walk, and crawling would be too dangerous considering she didn't know the area well at all. Hell, she didn't even know if she was safe here! If the Forest of Death had giant snakes, tigers, and poisonous insects, who's to say that they weren't inhabiting these woods too? Just as she was about to panic, a sudden blast of water hit her square in the face, followed by a laughing hyperactive blond.

"Hahaha! You should see your face!" Naruto shouted, rolling around on the grass next to the rock. "Oh man, I can't believe you fell for that!" While he was laughing, he didn't notice Tayuya's clenching fist, or the fact that she'd shuffled her way within a foot of him. That is, until she punched him so hard he rebounded off of an adjacent tree and fell right back into the river.

"Don't you ever._ Ever._ Do that again!" She practically screamed through clenched teeth. His grin immediately disappeared as he crawled back onto the bank of the river.

"I was just playing around..." He stated, keeping a few feet away from the seething redhead. Tayuya struggled to calm down, even going as far as to dig her fingernails into the palm of her hand. His 'joke' brought back painfully alarming memories of being abandoned as a child. It wasn't until Orochimaru found her that she had finally felt a glimmer of hope for the future. He'd offered her protection, power, and best of all, an escape from her own desperate loneliness. It wasn't until he had used the cursed seal against her that she realized exactly how much she meant to her leader; absolutely nothing. After a few seconds of deep breathing, she finally managed to calm down enough to just glare coldly at him. Naruto stifled a gasp. Her eyes were the same as his own; laced with loneliness and pain. As quickly as it had appeared, it vanished. "Sorry."

"Just start training. It's going to get dark in a few hours." She shuffled back onto her rock and lie down, already tired of dealing with the many personalities of Uzumaki Naruto. _'Shit, guess I'm still not at full health yet.'_ The girl almost laughed out loud at the irony of her statement. The familiar sound of kage bunshins coming into existence reached her ears, signaling that the boy had finally decided to start training. She opened her eyes briefly to make sure that his form was correct, and was surprised to see that it was flawless. For a dead last idiot, he was an extremely fast learner. Perhaps she could even teach him a few jutsu when she got her right arm out of the cast. Granted, most of her jutsu were related to her flute, but she at least had a few defensive doton jutsus for back up. They would come in handy if Orochimaru decided to bust out some of the heavier katon jutsus he had in his vast collection. Tayuya watched as he ducked, weaved, dodged his shadow clones, every minute or so dispelling them one at a time. He'd started with five to warm up with, and after he easily took those down he doubled the number of clones to ten. A few minutes after, he had nearly twenty different shadow clones fighting him at once,_ all of them managing to stay afloat_. Hell, most jounin couldn't even create twenty kage bunshins without suffering from chakra exhaustion, and here was a mere genin creating them by the buckets without even breaking a sweat. Despite being loud, annoying, and downright obnoxious, he truly was a remarkable kid. A small, pleasant feeling made itself known deep down in her heart--something she hadn't felt in years.

** Hope.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 5  
**

Every part of his body ached. He trudged home on the dark, empty streets of Konoha, occasionally stopping to give his legs a quick break. After spending a few hours training (and "accidentally" splashing Tayuya with water), Naruto wanted nothing more than to get home, take a shower, and possibly get a few _dozen_ hours of sleep. Alas, it was not to be.

"Naruto!" He almost groaned in agony as he turned around to greet the person that had called his name. Why couldn't people ignore him when he _wanted_ to be ignored? His eyes widened in near disbelief when he saw a familiar tuft of pink hair running full speed in his direction.

"Sakura-chan? What are you doing out this late?" The girl panted briefly before grinning and standing up to her full height.

"Guess what?! I asked Tsunade-sama to teach me medical ninjitsu, and she agreed!" Sakura practically screamed, her green eyes bright with excitement. Naruto playfully pouted and crossed his arms across his chest.

"No fair! First Sasuke gets training from the snake bastard, and now you get training from Tsunade-obaa-chan! Everyone's getting trained by a sannin except for me!" His teammate stuck her tongue out mockingly.

"Looks like it'll be up to me to bring Sasuke back, ne Naruto? You can be my back up." The boy lifted his chin and shifted into a slightly heroic pose.

"Ha! I'll become stronger than both of you! I'm getting training from someone better!" Sakura tilted her head in confusion. She hadn't seem him hanging out with anyone except for the loudmouthed redhead. A feeling of dread settled in the bottom of her stomach.

"You don't mean that foulmouth, do you?" He shrugged his shoulders and started to walk home, motioning for her to walk with him. After the initial excitement of seeing his crush for the first time in three days wore off, he suddenly remembered exactly how tired he was. His knees threatened to give out on him at any moment, and the only thing he wanted to see was the back of his eyelids.

"Tayuya? She's not that bad. She even fixed my taijutsu stance!" Unfortunately, his teammate failed to share in his enthusiasm. The girl frowned and shook her head.

"Naruto, I don't like her. There's something...off about that girl." Naruto nervously scratched the back of his head. If she found out that Tayuya was one of the ninja who helped kidnap Sasuke, there's no telling what would happen. The entire village would be after the former sound-nin, and himself by association.

"What do you mean, Sakura-chan? She's okay once you get to know her."

"Don't you remember? She said we'd never be able to beat Orochimaru. I don't think you should hang out with someone that has such a negative attitude." The blond resisted the urge to sigh in relief. Thankfully, she didn't even suspect that she was a former enemy ninja. "She also has a strange aura about her. Where is she from, anyway?" Of course, he spoke too soon.

"Ah...well, Kakashi-sensei found her on the outskirts of the village. Someone attacked her." He said, trying not to lie to his crush. Half the truth is better than none--Says Jiraiya, anyway. _'As long as she doesn't ask what village she's from, I should be fine.'_ With this resolve in mind, he picked up his pace a bit.

"Oh, that's horrible! What village is she from?"

_Damnit._

"Uh...oh! There's my apartment building! Later, Sakura-chan!" Before she could answer, he gathered as much chakra as he could muster (Which wasn't much) into his feet and sprinted towards the safety of his apartment, ignoring the screaming pain in his legs to avoid the questions of his teammate. Sakura stood stunned in the middle of the street. This was strange behavior, even for Naruto. He scaled the stairs with practiced ease, not stopping until he was right in front of his own door. He felt bad about abandoning his crush, but brushed the guilty feeling off and moved to unlock his door. Once inside, the boy shed his clothing and trudged the few steps to his bathroom. The apartment was very small, only containing a bed, table, small kitchen area, and a bathroom. A few potted plants were hung haphazardly in front of the window, contrasting greatly with the shabby state of his living quarters. It wasn't much, but it was home.

He turned on the faucet of his shower and breathed a heavy sigh. If he can help it, Naruto never misses a shower. To him, showers are something sacred; the blistering hot water piercing his back always relaxes him, and somehow manages to push all of his troubles behind him. It is the only time he's able to fully let his guard down, and he wouldn't trade these fifteen minutes of bliss for all the jutsu in the world.

...well, that may have been stretching it a bit, but he wouldn't trade his shower time for anything less. He turned around and leaned his back against the wall, reveling in the comfortable atmosphere of the shower stall. His mind unwillingly began to drift to the day's events, briefly recalling every move or action he'd made during his training. It didn't take long for him to remember the grief-stricken face of Tayuya when he'd pretended to drown, nor the bone-chilling glare she'd given him when he emerged. He made a mental note to never play a prank on her again. At least, ones that involved faking death. Still, he wondered why she would even care if he drowned or not. In their time together, she barely seemed to tolerate him, let alone care for his well-being. Chalking it up as another 'girl' thing, he reached for his shampoo bottle and squirted a generous amount onto his messy mop of hair. He used his nails to fiercely scrub his scalp, although he doubted his hair was very dirty. Especially since he spent the better part of the evening submerged in a river.

_'I have to do something to make it up to her.'_ he thought, quickly hopping out of the shower and slipping into his night clothes. It was a warm night, so he decided to allow his body to air dry. He dove under his sheets and attempted to quickly fall asleep. If he lie awake too long, he'd begin thinking of Sasuke. His brain would continue to replay their time together in his mind, searching for the point where he had gone wrong with his surrogate brother. As far as he could tell, Sasuke had been content working with he and Sakura-chan. Searching for lost cats, trying to find out what was under Kakashi-sensei's mask, catching a quick bowl of ramen after a mission; all of the things they enjoyed doing together as a team. He clenched his fists in anger. It was all Orochimaru's fault. That snake bastard was going to pay for taking away one of his precious people. He swore on his life, Orochimaru would die.

---------------------

_Drip. Drip. Drip. _

Tayuya grit her teeth in annoyance. After refilling her pitcher for the night, the nurse had failed to turn the water faucet all the way off. She'd had an incredibly hard time falling asleep; the only thing that calmed her mind enough to sleep was the image of her ogres beating the shit out of the neglectful old witch. Even after she'd constantly pushed the call button for nearly an hour, the elderly bitch hadn't come back to the room. The girl let loose a frustrated growl, banging her head back against the wall to block out the monotonous noise.

"Please don't do that. You just recovered from your head wound a few days ago." Tayuya snapped her head around to look into the amused eyes of the slug sannin's apprentice. Between the constant banging of her head and the dripping faucet, the genin hadn't noticed that someone entered the room.

"Off!" She screamed, her features dripping with desperation. Shizune tilted her head in confusion.

"Off?" The woman asked, lowering Tayuya's medical chart to glance at the girl.

"The faucet! It's driving me batshit!" With an understanding nod, the medical ninja quickly walked over to the sink and twisted the handle until the dripping stopped. The girl closed her eyes and sighed with relief.

"How long has this been on?" She asked, frowning slightly. It wasn't like the nurses to be so neglectful of their patients.

"All. Fucking. Night." Shizune's brows furrowed in disappointment.

"Do you know who the nurse was?" Tayuya lifted a curious eyebrow. She was certain the woman knew that she was one of the four Sound ninja who had an indirect hand in killing the Third Hokage.

"Some old bitch with wide-ass bottlecap glasses. Why?" The young woman lifted the medical chart and began scribbling away at a few things. Based on her description, it was the same nurse who'd lost her grandson in the joint attack by the Sand and Sound. Perhaps it wasn't so smart of the Hokage to let the veteran nurses know who the girl was.

"Tsunade-sama doesn't tolerate ill-treatment of patients. No matter where they're from." She said, purposely looking up at the genin. "Chances are, she'll be fired for prejudicial neglect." Tayuya smiled evilly at this statement. In the end, the last laugh would be hers. Nothing in life was better than revenge.

"Ha! Serves the bitch right." She yawned widely, not even attempting to cover her mouth. Now that the noise had stopped, she was finally able to get a few more hours of sleep. Her eyelids slowly began to droop, a fact which greatly amused Shizune. After giving the girl a quick checkup, she quietly slipped out of the room and headed towards her master's office. She was more than looking forward to the nurse's (literal) ejection from the hospital.

---------------------

(Three hours later)

A small shadow crept along the halls, stealthily making its way towards the second floor of the hospital. It soon reached the door to room 223; the very same room that held the former young kunoichi from the Sound. Twisting the doorknob slowly, the figure slipped into the room and gently shut the door behind them.

_'Finally, you get what's coming to you...'_ The person thought, grinning maliciously. The grin slipped momentarily as they noticed she was asleep._ 'Damn, I thought she'd be up by now. Guess I have to...'_

"Naruto? What the fuck are you doing?" The blond nearly jumped out of his skin when she spoke.

"Gah! I thought you were asleep!" She lifted an eyebrow and eased herself up into a sitting position. Eyeing him carefully, she noticed a small bag hanging from his right hand.

"Dumbass, just because I can't use my legs doesn't mean that my ninja senses have dulled any. I **was** part of Orochimaru's elite guard." Tayuya deadpanned. She narrowed her eyes a bit in curiosity as she noticed that he was snickering. "What?" Naruto pointed to his left cheek and grinned.

"You have a little something on your face." Her hand shot up to her cheek to feel a sticky wetness smeared all over the left side of her face. She realized in horror that it was her drool. Unwillingly, her face began to heat up in embarrassment and she turned around to wipe the fluid off with the hospital bedsheets. She also raked her fingers through her hair in a sad attempt at giving it some order. Her hand suddenly froze in mid-stroke.

_'What the hell am I doing?' _She wondered, quickly bringing her hand back down to her lap. For some reason, she felt humiliated that he had seen her in such a disheveled state. Her pride feeling somewhat bruised, she turned back around and practically snarled at the boy.

"Quit laughing at me, you lowlife cocksucking motherfucker!" Naruto blinked in surprise. She'd never used three insults in succession before. Something in the back of his mind told him that she was mad; perhaps it was his common sense. He held up his hands in a placating fashion.

"I wasn't laughing at _you_, it's just that you looked so funny that..." The boy paused in mid-sentence, briefly reflecting on his words. "Oh, I guess I was laughing at you." Before the girl could say a word, he held up the bag hanging from his right hand. "Wait! I brought food!" Her mouth snapped shut in surprise. He'd brought her lunch? She fought to say something, _anything_, but the words somehow managed to escape her. Instead, she settled on a questioning glare. Grinning, Naruto reached into the bag and (unsurprisingly) handed her a large plastic container of ramen. Luckily, it was still warm.

"Uh...thanks?" Tayuya mumbled, her anger temporarily forgotten. His grin widened as he pulled up a chair. He reached into the bag and handed her a pair of chopsticks.

"I didn't know what kind you'd want, so I asked oji-san to make me a Super Deluxe Naruto Special. It has almost everything in it!" The boy exclaimed. The redhead nodded and quickly broke her chopsticks. She was deathly hungry, especially since the nurse had "forgotten" to give her breakfast. Without wasting any time, she uttered a blessing and dug in. Naruto watched amazed as she voraciously inhaled the noodles, barely stopping to breathe. Every now and then, she'd stop to wipe her mouth (she had to maintain some sense of elegance after all) before returning full force to the food. Approximately two minutes later, Tayuya leaned back with a content sigh.

"Shit, that was good." She smiled and closed her eyes to relish in the warm feeling of the soup swimming around in her belly. She refused to acknowledge that the feeling could have possibly come from his act of kindness.

"Ne, Tayuya." The redhead lifted an eyelid to look at him.

"What?"

"I was wondering...about yesterday..." He muttered, looking anywhere but at her face. She opened both of her eyes and turned her head to look at him.

"What about it?"

"Nothing, just wondering if you were still mad." A grunt resounded from the back of her throat. It was hard to believe that _he_ was still worried over something that happened a day ago.

"Why do you care?" She asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. Naruto shrugged and finally lifted his head to look at her.

"Just do." Tayuya fought the urge to growl.

"No, I'm not mad. I'm still going to kick your ass, but I'm not mad." He grinned in relief. If she was still mad, she might not teach him anything else. She pushed herself back into an upright position and set the bowl down on the tray next to her. "What are you doing here anyway? It's Saturday. You don't have to take me to the Academy." The boy gave her a confused glance.

"Aren't you still going to train me?" Tayuya blinked. She honestly didn't expect him to be able to train after the brutal exercise she'd put him through the day before. The girl sighed loudly. Though she was secretly glad to be leaving the hospital, she didn't want him to know it.

"Well, if you want me to go, you have to get my shit out of those cabinets." She said, pointing towards the opposite wall. He walked over to cabinets and began to open the various doors. He soon emerged with a few folded pieces of clothing.

"This stuff?" She nodded and took the clothing from him. Naruto pulled the curtain separating the room and plopped down on the other bed. Unable to help himself, he watched her silhouette in mild awe as she quickly pulled on her pants and ninja sandals. It was quite a feat considering that she only had one available hand. A small blush crept onto his face as he watched her pull the hospital gown up and over her head. He couldn't see much, but just the thought of her baring her chest in the same room was enough to get his heart pumping a fraction of a second faster. He shook his head ferociously and growled. _'What am I doing?! I'm not a pervert like ero-sennin!' _He thought, turning his entire body so as not to be tempted to look again.

A small curse floated from the other side of the curtain. While it was easy for Tayuya to slip on her pants and shoes, the long sleeved shirt required the assistance of a second person. She'd only been able to get her left arm through the sleeve, leaving the right side of her shirt hanging on her shoulder. Even worse, the bastards hadn't even given her a bra. Blushing mildly, she cleared her throat and glanced hesitantly at the curtain.

"Uh...Naruto?" She muttered, barely believing what she was about to ask him. "Can you uh, help me?" Naruto choked and nearly fell off of the bed.

"H-Huh? Why do you need _my_ help?" The girl nervously bit her lip. He was the last person she wanted to help her, but with her nurse's head on the chopping block, she doubted that there was anyone around to receive her call. With a resigned sigh, she shifted around so that her back was facing the other side of the room. She'd be damned if he got a peek at her more "valuable" assets.

"Just get the fuck over here!" Naruto grunted and pulled back the curtain. "Help me put my arm through the sleeve. And be careful!" He nodded (although she couldn't see it) and hesitantly reached for her injured arm. Though he tried not to, he couldn't help but stare at the rich, ivory skin of her back. As he loosely grasped her arm, he briefly registered that it was his first time actually touching a female's skin; Getting punched in the face by Sakura didn't count. His thumb gently slid over the smooth surface of her arm.

"Soft..." Naruto whispered unknowingly, eyes wide with interest. Tayuya tensed in mortification, feeling her blush deepen and spread across her cheeks. He was only the second male to compliment her on her physical appearance; not counting Sakon's offhand comments about how disgustingly graceful she looked while sparring.

"W-What d-did you just say?" She stuttered, cursing her tongue for its impudence. Naruto blushed and quickly slipped her arm into the sleeve of the dark blue shirt.

"Nothing! Ready to go?" He asked, abruptly turning to grab the collapsible wheelchair from the corner of the room. His cheeks burned red with embarrassment at his unintentional confession. On the other side of the room, Tayuya wasn't faring any better. As it usually did, her bashfulness was soon replaced by anger. How dare he try to cop a feel when her guard was down? When he reached down to pick her up, she launched a (not so) fierce blow into his gut. "Oomf! What was that for?!"

"For tryin' to feel me up!" She screamed, more angry at herself for holding back on the punch. Her conscience was really starting to become a problem.

"I wasn't trying to feel you up! _You're_ the one who asked for _my_ help!" He retorted. She huffed and lifted her arm to be picked up, a silent acknowledgment that he'd won. For a dumbass, he sure knew how to make a good point. Even someone as argumentative as she couldn't come up with a plausible enough comeback. He reached down again to pick her up (Though warily) and set her down in the flimsy wheelchair. "Where are we going today?" Naruto asked as he wheeled her out of the room. She shrugged and leaned back in the chair.

"Who gives a fuck. I can't teach you anything else in this state anyway." The chair slid to an abrupt stop, nearly throwing her headfirst to the ground.

"What?! There has to be something you can teach me!" He yelled, eyes wide with desperation. If this was as far as she could take him, Sasuke was going to wipe the floor with his ass.

"Well, there is something...but, I don't think you'll be able to handle it."

"Tell me! I can do it!" Tayuya smirked.

_'He's so easy to manipulate! Hell, I bet I could get the bastard to strip if I wanted him to!' _She thought, her smirk growing a bit lecherous. She quickly dismissed that train of thought before it went places she didn't want to go. It's not like he had anything to show off anyway. "Alright, I'll tell you. But only on two conditions. One, you can't complain even once about the training." He snorted with amusement. As if he would complain about training. "And two, you're not allowed to quit. That means no taijutsu, ninjutsu, or genjutsu until you've completely mastered this exercise. Got it?"

"That's it? This'll be-" He suddenly stopped in the middle of his sentence. Something didn't add up. If he wasn't going to be doing taijutsu, ninjutsu, or genjutsu, then what else was there to learn? He narrowed his eyes slightly in thought. Though he certainly wasn't a genius, he wasn't nearly as stupid as he led others to believe. Even he could smell a trap a mile away. "Wait a minute! This training must be something I won't like if you gave me those conditions." Tayuya's jaw nearly dropped into her lap. Since when did the dobe grow a brain? She quickly regrouped and attacked from another angle.

"Who gives a fuck? Either accept my conditions, or I don't train you." Naruto grimaced. While he had identified the trap, there was no clear way out of it. With a resigned sigh, he began pushing her towards the hospital elevator.

"Fine, you win." She smiled in triumph. At least that evened the score.

---------------------

"Ne, Tayuya, what are you going to teach me?" Naruto and Tayuya were currently resting on one of the large, flat rocks sitting near the river. They hadn't moved since they had arrived; which was around fifteen minutes ago.

"Have you ever heard of Leaf Concentration?" She asked, resting her head on the rock. Her escort's jacket was propped up behind her head as a makeshift pillow. She still hadn't given him his jacket back, and decided that she would keep it until he asked for it. It's not like he didn't have others at home. Naruto gave her a confused look.

"Leaf Concentration? How does that work?" She grinned and reached onto the grass for a leaf. After finding one, she motioned for him to come closer.

"I'm surprised you've never done it. Orochimaru told us that it was taught in the Academy." She sat up and placed the leaf on her forehead. "The object of this exercise is to keep the leaf from falling off of your forehead. In order to do this, you must concentrate all of your chakra onto the leaf." The boy frowned deeply.

"Wait, you're teaching me that?! Iruka-sensei tried to teach me that when I was in the Academy! It's boring!"

"Did you ever learn how to do it?"

"Uh...no..." He mumbled, hanging his head in shame. Tayuya laughed.

"That explains why your chakra control is so shitty. You'll never beat Orochimaru if you can't use your chakra effectively." He snorted and crossed his arms.

"How does this help my chakra control?" She knocked him over the head with her cast.

"I was getting to that part, dumbass!" She cleared her throat and assumed the teacher role once again. "This exercise actually trains concentration. By concentrating all of your energy on the leaf, your mind is able to focus much more efficiently, thus improving your chakra control. Do you get it?" He nodded and plucked the leaf off of her forehead.

"It's kind of like when I was learning the Rasengan from Ero-sennin. When I drew a leaf onto my hand, I was able to pop the ball much easier than I did before." She blinked in confusion.

"Uh, sure, whatever. Just get to work." He stuck his tongue out but placed the leaf on his forehead anyway; only to have it slip off a moment later. He placed the leaf on his forehead again, achieving the same results. After twenty five or so failures, Tayuya sighed and slammed her head into her hand. "It's obvious that we're not getting anywhere. Look, try this. Cross your legs and close your eyes. Remember, this is an exercise in concentration. Block out everything except the leaf."

"This is too hard!" He whined, sticking his lip out in a pout. She bopped him over the head again.

"Remember the conditions? If you don't do this, I won't teach you anything else. Sasuke will fuck you up and make you his bitch without my help." Naruto grit his teeth in anger. Though he hated to admit it, she was right. There was no way he could get strong enough on his own, and she knew a lot about Orochimaru's training methods; the same methods he would be using to teach Sasuke. He sighed and did as she said, much to her amusement. _'Two for me, one for you.' _Amazingly enough, he was able to hold the leaf on his forehead for three seconds before it finally floated down into his lap.

"I did it!" He screamed in triumph. She frowned and knocked him over the head again.

"Idiot, you have to hold the leaf on your forehead for at least an hour before we can move on."

"Nani?! That long?! But that'll take forever!" She shrugged and motioned towards her legs.

"I'm not going anywhere. The longer it takes you to master this exercise, the easier it will be for Sasuke to kick your ass. Now get back to work!" He mumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'slavedriving bitch' before placing the leaf on his forehead and closing his eyes. Tayuya watched in mild awe as his time increase from a few seconds to a few minutes in only half an hour. When Orochimaru taught her this exercise, it took her the whole day to hold the leaf for ten minutes, yet he was going to beat her time in only an hour! Of course, she was much more impatient and fiery than Naruto was when _she_ learned this exercise, but it was amazing progress nonetheless. With his eyes closed, she figured it was safe enough to finally examine his features in detail. The first thing she examined was his unruly sunny blond hair. Blonde was an incredibly rare color in the East, and she'd only seen three people with that hair color in Konoha; The current Hokage, Naruto, and the picture of the Fourth hanging on the wall in the Hokage's office. She briefly wondered if Naruto and the Fourth were related but quickly waved it off. As if that idiot could be related to someone as legendary as the Yellow Flash. She recalled reading about the Yamanaka clan in her earlier studies with Orochimaru, and remembered that they too had blond hair and blue eyes. Perhaps he was a Yamanaka? She momentarily toyed with the idea, but again dismissed it. As far she knew, he didn't know any mind-transfer techniques. Instead of pondering his origins, she decided to ask him about it later and move on before he opened his eyes again to complain.

Her eyes slowly traveled from his hair down to his strange whisker marks. After making sure he was still concentrating on the leaf, she leaned forward to get a better look at them. At first, she thought the whiskers were simply drawn on with face paint. Now that she was close enough to study them in detail, she was able to see the shallow grooves the lines made in his face. _'Huh. That's a weird birthmark.'_ She thought, fighting the urge to reach out and touch them. _'Maybe his clan specializes in ninja cats or something.' _She snickered quietly at the thought and decided to finish looking at the rest of his features before she distracted him with her giggles. Tayuya leaned back again to take in his whole face.

Combined with the whisker marks and his furrowed brows, his face seemed almost feral in appearance. His eyes were slightly slanted like a fox's, and her mind quickly conjured up the image of a ninja fox arranging his paws in a cross to perform the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. She shook her head to clear the image, lest she break out in a fit of giggles. Her imagination could certainly be strange when it wanted to be. Just as she was about to finish her assessment of his appearance, Naruto's body suddenly slumped over, causing the leaf to float harmlessly to the rock below them. _'What the fuck?'_ There had been no visible indication that he was about to fall asleep, or she surely would have smacked him awake before he did.

"Naruto! Hey, shithead, wake up!" She yelled, smacking him a few times on the head. When he didn't move, a small inkling of concern wormed its way into the bottom of her heart. "This had better not be another joke, Naruto! Wake up! Hey!" She stretched her arm out and splashed a little water into his face, hoping to at least get a small reaction from the blond. "This isn't fucking funny anymore! Wake-"

"Maybe you should let him sleep for awhile. He looks pretty tired, don't you think?" Tayuya snapped her around to the tree behind them.

"Who's there! Show yourself!" She yelled, reaching for Naruto's weapon pouch. She grabbed a kunai and held it in front of herself and Naruto defensively. Her eyes widened when a ninja sauntered out of the trees, a wide grin nearly splitting their face in half. "You!" The ninja chuckled softly and brought a kunai of their own out, spinning it nonchalantly by the ring.

"My, my. What will you do now, Tayuya?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Melody of the Fox**

**A/N: Whoa! Over 100 reviews! Thanks! They really keep me motivated! As a _tiny_ side note, I'm extremely frustrated with this story. It doesn't have the effect I've been trying to achieve ever since I started writing seriously (About a year ago). I'm _not_ abandoning this story at all; just going to try some new things. Maybe write a few oneshots to test out different writing styles.  
**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 6**

"Misumi," Tayuya snarled through clenched teeth. Out of all the ninja in the Sound village, he was the one she least wanted to see. Orochimaru had sent him, along with Kabuto and Yoroi, to infiltrate the Chuunin Exams and study all of the genin to find potential warriors for the growing village of the Sound. Only Kabuto had returned, so she'd long since perceived them as dead.

The Sound nin pulled down his face mask and grinned. He was wearing simple black ninja pants, a black long sleeved shirt, and a black Sound chuunin vest. "I'm pleased to hear that you remember me, Tayuya-chan," he said, readjusting his glasses. She felt her lip curl at his jeering use of the -chan suffix.

"What the fuck are you doing here? Orochimaru wouldn't send someone as pathetic as you to finish me off." He laughed and hopped down from the tree, continuing to spin the kunai on his ring finger.

"Still as lively as ever, I see. Actually, Orochimaru-sama didn't assign me this mission. I requested it." She narrowed her eyes and inched closer to Naruto.

"He still wouldn't send your feeble ass alone to kill a former member of the Sound Five."

"You're right; Despite my protests, he insisted that I bring Yoroi along with me." Tayuya cursed audibly, her eyes darting around in every direction. There was no possible way that she could defend against two ninja in her current state. Hell, she barely stood a chance with just one. As if sensing her distress, the Sound nin waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry, Tayuya-chan. After seeing your current injuries, I sent Yoroi on ahead to report our success to Orochimaru-sama." Satisfied for the moment, she glanced out of the corner of her eye at Naruto.

"What the hell did you do to him?" She growled, making sure to keep the contortionist in her sight. He chuckled loudly at her question.

"Genjutsu. According to Kabuto, the boy has little to no talent for it. It was easy to place him under a low-level sleeping illusion." She winced slightly at his words.

_'If we get out of this alive, I'm going to spend a whole fucking month teaching him genjutsu,'_ She thought, quickly forming a seal to cancel the genjutsu. Before she could tap Naruto on the shoulder to wake him up, Misumi appeared behind them and picked the blond up by his shirt.

"Tsk, tsk. Have you really fallen so far as to rely on an idiot like this?" He asked, grinning down at her mockingly. "Tell me, what is he to you?" She narrowed her eyes and scoffed. Thinking quickly, she concluded that it would be best for both of them if Naruto was able to live. Even if she died, he could at least fulfill her dream along with his own.

"He doesn't mean shit to me. I was simply using the fool to help me escape. Nothing more, nothing less." He stopped twirling the kunai and smiled.

"That's a relief, I thought you had finally gotten over me. You still love me, don't you, Tayuya-chan?" She grit her teeth in anger, greatly resenting his cutting remarks. Though she hated to admit, Tayuya had been quite smitten with the jounin. Granted, she was only nine at the time while he was practically an adult. The others had always teased her for her infatuation with the man, often calling her things like 'Reverse Pedophile' and 'Grave Robber.' It wasn't until he had ridiculed her for her ability to play the flute that she realized exactly how fucking stupid her admiration of him was. It was also the day when she resolved to squash all of her weaker emotions in favor of power.

"Fuck you." He shook his head in mock exasperation.

"You haven't changed a bit, Tayuya-chan." He glanced up at the sun before returning his attention to the girl in front of him. "While I'd love to catch up on old times, I really must be going. Yoroi's probably worried sick by now." With a sickeningly sweet grin, he stabbed the kunai into Naruto's heart and tossed him into the stream. Tayuya's hand went limp, causing the kunai to clatter harmlessly on the rock below her. She watched helplessly as blood--_his _blood--turned the small stream a shallow shade of red.

"NARUTO!" She screamed, her eyes involuntarily tearing up. For the third time in her life, she felt all of her hopes shatter into a million pieces. All her plans of killing Orochimaru and parading his head around on a stick were sinking to the bottom of the stream along with her partner. She curled her hand into a fist and snatched the kunai up off the rock "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" With an angry swipe, she cut a large gash into the Sound-nin's thigh. He grimaced slightly and jumped back far enough to avoid any further attacks from the irate redhead. After making sure the wound wasn't too deep, he angrily stomped forward and picked the girl up by her throat. The condescending glint in his eyes was replaced by unbridled rage.

"That wasn't wise, Tayuya," he snarled, tightening his grip on her neck. She tried to stab at him again, but he viciously backhanded her hard across the face. The kunai slipped from her fingertips as her head snapped back from the blow. "I _was_ going to kill you fast, bitch, but now I'm going to make you suffer." He knelt down next to the stream and plunged her head under the water. Tayuya didn't bother struggling; as far as she was concerned, she was already dead. Not only were her legs fucked up, but all of her hopes and ambitions for the future had died along with Naruto. Worst of all, he had died because of _her_. As the edges of her vision began to darken, she smiled and closed her eyes with deep remorse.

_'I'm sorry, Naruto.'_

--------------------

"Gah...what the hell happened?" Naruto sat up and groggily opened his eyes. It took a few seconds for them to focus, but it took half that time to realize exactly where he was. He immediately recognized the dank, sooty walls and the dark, murky waters that made up the sewers of his mind. However, The broken pipes were dripping a little faster than they were before, and he noticed with some alarm that the area around him was slowly darkening. The only consistent light was the familiar red glow resonating from the Kyuubi's cage around the corner. He briefly weighed his options, and decided that visiting the Kyuubi was a much better idea than waiting to see what happens next. Sighing loudly, he reluctantly dragged his feet towards his prisoner. After what seemed like hours of walking, he finally stood before the giant golden gates that held the nine tailed fox.

"Oi! Baka-kitsune! What's going on?" He yelled, trying to see into the dark recesses of the cage. He was slightly worried that the nine tailed fox had somehow managed to escape, and was currently on another rampage through Konoha while he was trapped inside of his own mind. A pair of glowing red eyes appeared from behind the bars, putting his worries to rest.

**"****We're dying, brat."** Naruto blinked in surprise. He wasn't expecting a direct answer from the fox, and he certainly wasn't expecting to hear that he was going to die.

"Nani?! What do you mean we're dying?! What the hell did you do?!" The Kyuubi growled lowly at the boy. It was just like a human to blame someone else for their mistakes.

**"****I didn't do anything. It's because of your own clumsy negligence that you were stabbed through the heart by the enemy."** By now, Naruto was frantically pulling at his hair. Death itself didn't scare him; it was the thought of the people he would be leaving behind that worried him.

"Shit! I can't die here! I have to bring Sasuke back! I have to marry Sakura-chan! I have to become the Hokage!" He suddenly stopped in front of the cage and glared up at his prisoner. "You're supposed to be the _almighty_ Kyuubi, right? Do something!" What looked like a scowl appeared on the demon's face.

**"****You've got a lot of guts to talk to the strongest of the Great Demons like that, brat."** It narrowed its eyes in thought. Perhaps this situation could somehow work out in his favor. **"Look, kid, we have to act fast. This seal prevents me from releasing enough of my chakra into your system to heal you. If you release the seal right now, it will be easy for me to rebuild your heart." **Naruto felt himself sweatdrop.

"I'm not _that _stupid." The Kyuubi made a movement that looked suspiciously like a shrug. Deciding to take what he could get, the demon fox attacked from another angle.

**"Fine. How about a deal?" **Naruto's ears perked up at this proposition.

"A deal? What kind of deal?" He asked, glaring skeptically at the beast.

**"I want more power."** Before the genin could speak, the Kyuubi quickly continued. **"But it's not what you think. As you can probably imagine, it gets fairly boring in here after awhile."**

"So what is it that you want? Hurry it up, baka-kitsune!" The monster growled with considerable annoyance. If all humans were this annoying, he might honestly reconsider the offer he was about to make.

**"Silence, mortal!"** He roared, effectively shutting the boy up. **"What I want is freedom. I want to see, smell, hear, taste, and feel everything that you do. I also want to be able to communicate with you, so that I can prevent any more of the foolish predicaments you tend to get yourself into. In return, I'll tell you how to access more of my chakra and rebuild your pathetic human heart."** Naruto frowned in thought, trying to figure out what the bastard fox was up to. He was just about to agree when he suddenly remembered Gaara's situation, and how the Shukaku would constantly taunt and torment the jinchuuriki in his mind. There was no way in hell he would let the Kyuubi drive _him_ crazy. The mischievous grin that suddenly appeared on his face made the Kyuubi slightly nervous.

"Fine, I accept your deal on one condition; I'm allowed to silence your voice whenever I want to." An angry growl resounded from the other side of the bars, confirming the fact that he'd exposed the demon's plan. It was obvious that the beast didn't have time to come up with another angle, as the light in the room was slowly beginning to diminish. He smiled cheekily and clasped his hands behind his head. "Well?"

**"Fine!"** The beast roared, deciding to cut his losses and try again at a later time. Red chakra slowly began to seep out of the cage, bubbling up against Naruto's feet. Soon, the chakra hardened and grew, propelling him upwards towards the seal.

"Nani?! I already told you that I'm not removing the seal!" The beast sighed and shook his head.

**"Idiot. You have to weaken the seal in order to receive more of my chakra. Hurry up, I can feel your body weakening!"** Nodding to himself, the genin reached a trembling hand towards the seal. Very carefully, he made a miniscule tear on the corner of the small piece of paper. The effect was immediate. A torrent of chakra shot towards the opposite wall, drowning the entire room in a malevolent sea of energy. Naruto found it incredibly hard to breathe, let alone move in the fluctuating surge of raw power. The Kyuubi roared with laughter at his jailor's shocked expression.

"What...what was _that_?!"

**"That,"** He started, grinning with conceited pride, **"Was approximately one hundredth of my power, brat."** The blond's jaw scraped the ground. He knew that the demon was powerful, but this was fucking ridiculous! He suddenly had ten times more respect for the Fourth Hokage's strength; it couldn't have been easy to defeat a monster with such an insane amount of chakra. **"...get going, and let me have some fun!"** Naruto blinked, realizing that he'd completely missed whatever his prisoner had to say.

"Uh...yeah. Sure."

**"...You didn't hear a word I said, did you?"** The Kyuubi deadpanned. If he wasn't so disoriented, the boy would've laughed at the annoyed expression on the demon's face. A sigh escaped the beast, and with a swing of his paw, another wave of chakra shot Naruto out of the room and into the blinding light that made up his conscious.

--------------------

Tsurugi Misumi was having a wonderful day. Except for the shallow gash he had received from Tayuya, everything was going perfectly. His target was basically a one-armed vegetable, and as an added bonus, he had just killed the boy that Orochimaru had been bitching about for the past two months. He smiled and readjusted his glasses with his free hand. Orochimaru was sure to promote him to jounin for such an exceedingly successful mission. Absolutely nothing could ruin his day; not even a large, glowing red claw protruding from the stream and heading straight for his face.

..._Shit_.

Before he could blink the claw slashed him vertically across the face, sending both he and Tayuya sprawling across the ground. "What the hell?!" He yelled, bewilderment clear in his voice. Tayuya, who had landed a few yards away from the chuunin, immediately began gasping for air. She didn't know what the fuck had happened, but she wasn't about to complain. After she regained a bit of her breath, she too began to look around the small tree-covered field for her savior. What she saw next astounded her. Naruto, who had just been stabbed through the heart by Misumi, was slowly rising out of the stream. A vicious swirl of red chakra surrounded him, turning the gentle water around him into steam.

"Naruto?" She asked, her voice wavering with fear and disbelief. A gasp escaped her when he turned his blood red eyes upon her trembling form. His pants were ripped off at the knees, and for the first time she noticed the spiraling seal on his stomach. The thin whisker marks of his cheeks now looked like abysmal scars, and his sharp pointy teeth were bared in her direction. If he didn't look so abominably scary at that moment, she might even say that he looked hot. Kami, she had some weird fetishes.

**"Tayuya, Are you alright?"** He asked, taking a concerned step towards her. As if moving on its own accord, her body quickly shuffled further into the forest, trying desperately to get away from rancorous looking boy. His voice was different; almost animalistic in tone. Immense pain flashed through his eyes at her actions. It was the same look the villagers gave him every day of his life, but it hurt ten times more when it was someone he actually cared about. Instead of taking another step towards Tayuya, he turned ferocious eyes upon the screaming man to his right. The Sound nin was viciously clawing at his face, desperately trying to put out the chakra induced flames caused by Naruto's initial blow. Naruto sauntered over to the fallen ninja with a furious smirk on his face. He was going to enjoy this. **"Does it hurt?"** He sneered, stopping in front of the man. He launched a powerful kick into the shinobi's gut, sending him back first into a tree. An audible crack was heard on contact.

"Stay back, demon!" Misumi gasped between breaths. The Kyuubi empowered genin laughed bitterly.

**"Is that how you beg for your life?"** Naruto grabbed his head and slammed it face first into the ground. **"Is it?!"** The man lifted his head and glared pitifully at Naruto.

"I'd never beg before a _demon_." The boy snarled and lifted him into the air by his neck.

**"Wrong answer."** He thrust a clawed hand through the Sound nin's chest, instantly killing him. He stood there for a few minutes in that position, feeling Kyuubi's chakra slowly begin to drain from his system. His hand was still sticking out of Misumi's back, and blood ran in torrents down his forearm. It briefly registered in the back of his mind that it was his first kill; However, he was more concerned with the shivering girl staring at him with wide, fearful eyes. With a forceful pull, he wrenched his arm from the man's chest. The wet squelching sound seemed to snap her out of her daze as she suddenly seemed to notice the gaping hole in her former comrade's ribcage. He threw the body as far as he could towards the stream.

"What...what are you?" She asked with fearful trepidation. Despite witnessing (And being the cause of) the death of over a hundred people in her lifetime, none had ever been as gruesome as this one. She unconsciously burrowed herself further into the tree behind her as he began to walk in her direction.

"Tayuya...please, I-" Before he could finish his sentence, his legs suddenly gave out on him, causing him to crumble into a heap on the ground.

"Naruto!" Tayuya screamed, immediately concerned about the blond despite her fear. It took her a few minutes to stop her body from trembling, but she eventually managed to ease herself onto her stomach. Using her left arm, she slowly crawled her way towards Naruto. Her body seemed to be fighting against her every move, and it was through sheer willpower alone that she was able to reach him after what seemed like hours of crawling. She slid her body around so that she was leaning over the boy's head. It took her a few more minutes to get her nerve together, yet she somehow worked up enough to courage to reach a shaky hand towards his neck. She quickly checked for a pulse and let loose a small sigh of relief when it throbbed powerfully against her fingertips. At least he was alive. She gently lifted his head and shuffled herself under him, allowing him to rest against her lap. Her body still quivered a bit with fear, but she ignored her anxiety in favor of the boy sleeping deeply between her legs. She pushed a few loose strands away from his eyes and smiled. "Thank you."

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The Godaime Hokage sped through the rooftops at an alarmingly fast pace. Nearly every ninja above the level of chuunin had felt the evil chakra, and were now heading towards the outskirts of the village.

"Tsunade-sama!" An ANBU Captain suddenly appeared to her left, his squad following closely behind him. His face was hidden by a mask, but his fear was evident in his movements.

"What is it?" She noticed he seemed to hesitate before he spoke. It was obvious that it was something she didn't want to hear.

"Tsunade-sama, the other captains and I feel as though it is in your best interest to return to your office. Please allow us to handle this."

"No." The Captain groaned from behind his mask. It was common knowledge to anyone who'd seen Naruto and the Hokage together that she had a major soft spot for the boy. There had even been rumors that she'd given him the First Hokage's necklace. Despite the obstacles, he was determined to make her see reason.

"Tsunade-sama, please try to understand, the boy could be dangerou-" Without breaking her stride, Tsunade threw a lightning fast fist into the ANBU Captain's face, breaking his mask and sending him spiraling towards the ground. The other members of his squad wisely slowed down enough to get out of striking range of the Slug Sannin.

"Temper, Tsunade," A voice chuckled. She snarled and threw another angry fist to her right. Jiraiya barely managed to duck under the blow. "Relax, I'm not trying to stop you!" He exclaimed, placing his hands into the air as a sign of peace. "On the contrary; I'm just here to help. He _is_ my student, you know." The woman's glare softened.

"Do you think he's alright?" She asked, using chakra to gain a little extra speed. Jiraiya smirked confidently at his former teammate and matched her pace.

"I know he is." Seemingly satisfied with his answer, she turned forward and put all of her energy into reaching Naruto as fast as she could.

When they arrived in the clearing, the sight that met them was devastating. It wasn't the abnormally large craters or ruptured trees that surprised them; no, it was the copious amounts of blood and the mutilated body lying near the stream that sent a small sickening wave through their bodies. The Hokage slowly made her way towards the corpse, Jiraiya and a few ANBU squads close behind. She turned the body over and let loose a small sigh of relief. Judging by his headband, the man was from the Sound. She was immensely thankful that it wasn't one of their own shinobi, as that would've put her in an extremely difficult position. Except for the gaping hole in his chest and five large gashes across his face, there weren't many other injuries on the corpse.

"Tsunade-sama! We've found him!" Immediately forgetting about the corpse, she ran over to the ANBU officer's position.

"Where is he?!" The woman's eyes scanned the clearing until they landed on Tayuya. The girl had her back to them, but a small bit of blond hair was peeking out from her lap. Fearing the worst, Tsunade rushed over to the genin. As she arrived, Tayuya slowly turned her head from Naruto to look up at Tsunade. Her face was eerily void of any emotion, but the woman noticed with some concern that she was trembling. She knelt down in front of Tayuya and placed a gentle hand against Naruto's jugular. "He's alright," she said, letting loose the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. She moved to pick the boy up, but the redhead only tightened her grip on his head, glaring weakly at the woman.

"We need to get them to the hospital," Jiraiya said, appearing behind her. His teammate nodded her head in agreement and began performing seals. The girl showed no signs of releasing the boy anytime soon.

"I'll have to knock her out. She's having a mild combat stress reaction, otherwise known as shell shock. It's probably her first time experiencing something as malevolent as Kyuubi's chakra. Right now, Naruto is the only thing she is familiar with and is acting as her security blanket. Moving him could worsen the condition." Her hands began to glow a mild green, and she placed her palm onto the girl's forehead. Tayuya's grip on the blond immediately loosened as she fell forward into Tsunade's arms. She picked the girl up and motioned for Jiraiya to do the same with Naruto, causing him to raise an amused eyebrow.

"I thought you'd want to carry Naruto yourself," he chuckled, slinging the boy over a shoulder. "Don't tell me you've become attached to the girl already." The woman scowled and motioned one of the ANBU officers over.

"Clean this place up. I want absolutely no evidence of what happened here to get out to the public. Do you understand?" The female officer bowed her head in confirmation. Even she understood what would happen if the villagers found out about the genin using Kyuubi's chakra. The chaos would be insurmountable.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama." Tsunade nodded and turned towards her former teammate, whom she noticed had adjusted the boy into a much more careful and comfortable position when she wasn't looking. Smirking slightly, she nodded in the direction of Konoha.

"Let's go."


	7. Chapter 7

**Melody of the Fox**

**AN: Cuckoo! Cuckoo! That was a hint. :P Sorry I'm so late with this chapter. Extra long this time! **

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 1 **

"Tsunade-sama!" The Hokage fought the urge to groan. For the past two days, she had been receiving complaint after complaint about the Kyuubi's chakra surfacing in Konoha. Though most of the ninja complained about Naruto being a threat (and were promptly removed from the premises via defenestration), she had been pleasantly surprised to see that a few of them voiced a concern for the boy himself. Ibiki, Kotetsu, Izumo, and Genma were among the most surprising. She hadn't been aware that they'd even met the boy, let alone liked him. Pushing those thoughts aside, she lifted her head to resentfully glare at the ANBU officer standing in front of her desk. The masked ninja took a discreet step back before clearing his throat. "Homura-sama and Koharu-sama are here to see you."

This time, she did groan. They were the last two people she wanted to see at the moment; then again, they were the last two people that she _ever_ wanted to see. There was absolutely no doubt in her mind that she wouldn't like what they were going to say. It was almost as if they were put on this Earth _just_ to oppose her. She dropped her head back into her folded arms. "Tell them I'm at the hospital."

"But, Tsunade-sama, they--"

"Is this how you address your problems? It's no wonder the village is in shambles!" Utatane Koharu said, waltzing into the office. She was followed by Mitokado Homura, and her expression was one of great disgust and animosity. "If Sarutobi couldn't couldn't get rid of us, what makes you think that you can?" The ANBU officer gawked from behind his mask. The fact that anyone could stand up to the often irritable Hokage was nothing short of astounding. He quickly performed a shunshin out of the room before things got ugly between the Hokage and the council members.

"Now, Koharu, we're not here to discuss her poor leadership of Konoha." Tsunade's head shot up to glare at the aging council members.

"What do _you_ geezers want?" Koharu sniffed and walked towards the windows overlooking the village. She glanced at the Hokage from the corner of her eye, subtley watching her reaction.

"Don't drag this out anymore than you have to. You know exactly why we're here." The Godaime swiveled around in her chair and stared longingly at the ground below, letting out a tired sigh. The day was going so well, too.

_'I wonder if a fall from this height could kill me...'_ she wondered, seriously considering making a break for it. Homura placed a firm hand on her shoulder, immediately squashing any ideas she had about getting away.

"What do you plan to do about the Kyuubi container? The shinobi community is in an uproar, and rumors are beginning to spread to the civilians," he said. Tsunade smirked inwardly and straightened up in her chair. She was afraid that they were going to demand the immediate exile or death of Naruto, not give her a chance to explain her own ideas. She might be able to end this quickly after all. Especially since she hadn't informed them of his training mission with Jiraiya.

"Actually, I've already come up with a plan that will satisfy all parties involved." The look of genuine surprise on the elders' faces was more than enough to make Tsunade's face light up in delight. Koharu quickly regained her composure and sniffed haughtily at her statement. She was down, but she wasn't out.

"Oh? And what plan is this?" The blonde lazily leaned back in her chair, a wide grin lying arrogantly on her face. With the groundwork set, revealing the rest of the plan would be a cakewalk.

"I've arranged for for Jiraiya to take Naruto on a three year training trip. As you already know, Akatsuki isn't planning to move for another three years. It is during this time that he will turn Naruto into a shinobi capable of handling himself against Itachi and Kisame, the pair assigned to capture him." Homura nodded thoughtfully.

"He also plans to teach Naruto how to harness the Kyuubi's power, correct?"

"Exactly. Not only are we grooming a potential powerhouse for Konoha, but we're also satisfying the shinobi and civilian populations by removing their object of misplaced blame." Both elders winced guiltily. Before his defeat of Gaara, they too had blamed a few of their problems on the demon container. It took the words of Jiraiya and Tsunade combined to give the boy a chance to prove himself. Much to their chagrin, he had done so many times over. Suddenly remembering something, Koharu turned her gaze to the Godaime Hokage.

"Ah, but aren't you forgetting something? What about your plans for the Sound-nin we captured after your failed Uchiha retrieval? If I remember correctly, you assigned that boy to extract information from the girl. You can't send her-" Tsunade grinned, immediately alerting the two to her intentions. "You've lost your mind!" Homura nodded his agreement.

"I must agree with Koharu. Taking an enemy shinobi along on a three year training mission is bad enough, but taking a girl that cannot even walk? I fail to see your reasoning." The sannin's grin only widened. They were truly underestimating her intelligence, a fact which both angered and amused her.

"Who said she was an enemy?" The elders glanced at each other in shock, instantly alarmed by her mischievous grin. Turning an enemy who helped assassinate the Third Hokage into a Leaf-nin was borderline traitorous!

"You didn't!" Koharu shouted, staring at her with disdain.

"I did. The Hokage has a lot more power than I originally thought." The elderly woman sighed in defeat. She knew it was only a matter of time before the slug woman finally read over the rights and privileges awarded to the leader of the village. However, she didn't expect for it to happen _this_ soon.

"That still doesn't explain how you're going to send her on the training trip with Jiraiya. You yourself said that you couldn't do anything about her legs," Homura mused. Finally coming down from her power trip, Tsunade molded her face into a serious expression. If she didn't want them to cause a fuss at the next council meeting, she'd need to get them on her side. Or, at least keep them from directly opposing her.

"Jiraiya and I have decided to recreate the Sōzō Saisei on Tayuya." She held up an authoritative hand to quell their arguments long enough for her to finish. "According to the girl, she has no desire to go back to Orochimaru, and he has no desire to keep her alive. Being betrayed by her former leader is sure to leave her with a marginally large sized chip on her shoulder, don't you think?" The elderly man's face lit up in understanding.

"I see! You plan to train the both of them to fight Orochimaru, correct?" Tsunade nodded and clasped her hands in front of her. They were finally catching on.

"Exactly."

"How do you know that she won't run as soon as she's healed?" Koharu shot back, jumping into the conversation. She was fighting a losing battle, but she'd damned if she let the younger woman win without a fight. The Hokage only grinned as if expecting the question.

"I'm glad you asked. Though I'm pretty sure she won't run, I've asked Jiraiya to include a special summoning seal into the Sōzō Saisei. In the highly unlikely event that she _does_ decides to make a run for it, Jiraiya or I can immediately transport ourselves to her location." The male nodded his approval, giving her a small proud smile.

"My, you seem to have thought this through, Tsunade. Sarutobi would be proud." The woman felt herself blush at the compliment. Being compared to her former sensei was a real ego boost, especially coming from her sensei's teammate.

Koharu huffed haughtily. It wasn't that she hated the woman; hell, it was hard to hate someone who practically invented the medical ninja. Rather, it was her bad habits and abrasive attitude that rubbed her the wrong way. In her opinion, each ninja should be treated with the upmost respect and kindness. Now that _she_ was in office, the current ninja were lucky to get a 'Good job' from the blonde. Her blind faith in the Kyuubi boy didn't help her stock much either.

"Let's not go that far, shall we? Besides, how do you expect Jiraiya to keep an eye on both the Kyuubi container _and_ the Sound girl? At his age, he surely can't keep up with two rowdy teenagers."

"I'm going to be sending a jounin along as an escort. Not only will they be watching the girl to make sure that she doesn't escape, but they will also be a great help with Naruto and Tayuya's training. And, before you ask, I've already chosen someone suitable for the job. As I said before, this trip will satisfy all parties involved."

She sat back and let loose a large breath of relief. From what she could see, there were absolutely no other flaws in her plan. Unless of course the Akatsuki decided to attack before the three year period. Judging by the faces of the elders, they too couldn't find anything wrong with the mission. Nodding simutaneously, Homura and Koharu turned around and walked towards the door.

"Thank you for your report. We'll be sure to relay your plans to the counsel," He said, opening the door. He motioned for Koharu to follow before she could come up with something else to ask. Contrary to popular belief, he _did_ have a life outside of nagging the Hokage. She grudgingly followed him out the door, giving Tsunade a small glare before closing the door behind her.

As soon as she was sure that their chakra signatures were gone, she grinned widely and formed a single handseal to remove the henge she'd placed over her "paperwork". Immediately, six bottles of sake appeared on her desk. She picked one of the glistening white bottles up and raised it to the air.

"Damn, it's good to be the Hokage!"

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The room was abuzz with noise. The crunching of chips, yipping of a puppy, constant chattering of girls, and heavy sighs of a certain chuunin were driving Hyuuga Neji up the fucking wall. He grit his teeth in anger. Why the hell was _he_ the only one still bedridden? From what he'd heard, Naruto was pierced through a fucking _lung _for Kami's sake, and he was already running around the town with some crippled redhead! He took a deep relaxing breath to calm his mind--something which was extremely hard to do with the noise coming from the other Konoha ninja.

Slowly pushing himself up into a sitting position, he calmly surveyed the others in the room. As usual, Choji was going to town on a large bag of barbeque potato chips and showed no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Quickly becoming disgusted by his more than distasteful eating habits, he shifted his eyes to the wild looking boy at the foot of his bed.

Kiba and his dog, Akamaru, were desperately trying to grab one of the Akimichi's many bags of chips. Though he was loathe to admit it, the heavy boy was amazingly quick when it came to protecting his snacks. The way he managed to keep the bags just out of their reach and eat at the same was nothing short of astounding. While Akamaru was jumping up from the ground to nab one of the bags, Kiba was energetically reaching for the genin's pockets, yelling the whole time. He soon became bored with watching the dogboy and his mutt's pitiful attempts at stealing some food and turned his attention to the girls chattering away at his right.

Ino, Sakura, and Tenten were animatedly discussing some ninja rock group, and were completely unaware of anything outside of their little circle. He rolled his eyes in exasperation. He actually thought his teammate, Tenten, was above such trivial things, and was quite surprised to see that she practically worshiped this band. She was supposed to worship _him_, not some group of low-level-no-talent-shinobi musicians, damnit. Girls were so troublesome, as Shikamaru would put it.

Speaking of the pineapple-headed chuunin, the boy was currently staring at the clouds outside of the hospital window, sighing every few seconds and muttering about loud mouthed women. His arms hung limply at his sides, and Neji noticed with slight amusement that he was glancing down at the pavement longingly every few seconds. Judging by steady of twitching and flexing of his hands, he was probably considering jumping; something he himself wished he could do. A small squeak from his left alerted him to the last person visiting him in his room.

"A...ano, Neji-niisan...y-you s-shouldn't be sitting up. H-Hokage-sama s-says that y-you should stay i-in bed for another t-two days." Neji fought the urge the strangle Hinata.

Not that he didn't like her; their relationship had changed for the better after his defeat at the hands of Naruto. He'd finally started to see her as an equal, and not as someone who was unfit to be born into the main branch of the Hyuuga clan. In fact, he had actually become somewhat protective of the girl, making sure that she arrived home on time from her team training sessions and escorting her to her training grounds when he could.

Unfortunately, that didn't change the fact that he wanted to wrap his hands around her neck and choke her until she fell limp in his grip. Seriously, what the _fuck_ was up with that stuttering?! How fucking hard was it to form a single sentence without stammering and stumbling your way through half of it?! Usually, it didn't bother him much at all, and was actually sort of endearing. However, his current condition coupled with the grating noise from the others had shattered his normally limitless patience. Deciding he'd had enough, he calmly closed his eyes and sucked in a large breath of air.

"GOD FUCKING DAMNIT, SHUT THE HELL UP! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?! THIS IS A GODDAMN HOSPITAL, FUCKDAMNIT! GET OUT OF MY MOTHERFUCKING ROOM BEFORE I KAITEN THE SHIT OUT OF ALL OF YOU!"

The silence in the room was deafening. Every last one of them, even Shikamaru, stared wide-eyed at the now hyperventilating Hyuuga. None of them could believe their ears, especially Hinata. In the 13 years that she'd known him, Neji had never sworn around her! Tenten was thinking something similar, and was shocked beyond reason that the normally stoic boy had been pushed far enough to go off of the deep end. With Gai and Lee as teammates, she was genuinely surprised that it hadn't happened sooner. For a few seconds, no one moved. Gritting his teeth in annoyance, Neji pointed forcefully at the door.

"GET OUT!" He yelled, activating his byakugan for effect. The ninja quickly scrambled out of the room, stepping on each other in their hurry to get away from the seething genin. As soon as the door slammed shut behind them, Neji fell back against his pillow and sighed. It seemed like fate got a kick out of screwing with his mind every chance it got.

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"Geez, what was up with him?" Kiba grumbled, walking with the group after being kicked out by Neji. Tenten shrugged lightly.

"Who knows. Maybe it's something in the medication."

"That's still no excuse to kick us out of his room so rudely!" Ino screeched. She didn't take too kindly to being sworn at, let alone being told what to do. "After we went through all that trouble to visit him, too." Sakura nodded her agreement. It had been especially hard for her to get some time off as the Hokage proved to be a much harsher teacher than Kakashi could ever be. Though it was a little underhanded, she'd used visiting Neji as an excuse to get a small break before she had to make her nightly rounds. She glanced up at one of the room doors and smiled.

"Hey, we're close to Naruto's room! Why not visit him while we're in the area?" The others were dumbfounded. It was practically impossible for anyone to be admitted to the hospital twice in the same week!

"He's in the hospital again?!" Chouji asked, actually stopping his eating to stare slack-jawed at Sakura. Naruto had been discharged less than a week ago, and he was more than surprised to hear that he was back already. "What for?" The pink-haired genin motioned for them to follow her down the hall.

"Chakra exhaustion. From what I've heard Tsunade-shishou tell Shizune-san, he's been unconscious for two days." Shikamaru sighed heavily in response. It was just like the blond to overwork himself so soon after being released.

"It's troublesome, but we may as well stop by. Maybe a familiar voice will help to wake him up." They all nodded their accession and continued on down the hall.

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Being worried was not something Tayuya was familiar with. Since she'd met Orochimaru, she'd never had a reason to. Just as he'd promised when she met him, the sannin had given her food, shelter, and ample protection. She'd never even worried about her teammates; Each of the members of the Sound Four were more than capable of taking care of themselves, and even if they weren't, she probably wouldn't much care anyway.

However, watching Naruto's pale, motionless face stirred something within her. With every beat of her heart she felt a small constricting pain throughout her chest, and she idly wondered if this what others felt when she had killed one of their loved ones. She felt her breath hitch slightly at that thought. Did she care for Naruto? Is that why it bothered her to see him so feeble and pale? She vigorously scratched at her scalp with her fingernails.

"Shit! get a fucking hold of yourself!" She screamed. All of these thoughts and feelings were driving her crazy! She almost wished that Misumi had succeeded in killing her. Then she'd at least have some peace of mind. She sighed and leaned back in her chair. She was supposed to be resting in her own bed, but she'd insisted on staying by the blonde's side until he woke up despite the Hokage's wishes.

Tayuya chuckled bitterly at her actions. Less than two weeks away from the Sound village and she'd already become weak. Pathetic. She felt her lip curl slightly as she leaned forward to glare at his face.

"This is **your** fault!" She yelled, continuing to frown down at him. In the back of her mind, she felt somewhat foolish for talking to a boy that couldn't even hear her. She'd been constantly throwing taunts and jibes at him for the past few days, hoping against hope that he'd hear her and wake up. She figured that if he heard a familiar voice, it might help him find his way out of the coma faster. In reality, it'd been the Hokage's apprentice's idea.

The dark haired woman would usually visit three times a day to check up on Naruto; Once in the morning, once in the early afternoon, and once right before visiting hours ended. During her visits, she would often speak to the former Oto-nin, asking her if he'd shown any signs of pain or discomfort.

If she had the time, Shizune would also offer to bring Tayuya things that she couldn't get in the hospital. So far, the girl had only asked for a comb (her fingers wouldn't cut it anymore), a brush, and a small mirror. She'd given her the items with an annoyingly cheeky smile, but Tayuya didn't mind too much. She actually reminded her of Kabuto; a competent medical ninja with a somewhat aloof personality. The only difference was that Kabuto was a sadistically sick bastard most of time, and only did something for someone else if it would help further his or Orochimaru's own ideals. Now that she thought about it, they were really nothing alike.

Shizune hadn't been the only person to the visit in the last couple of days. The Hokage herself had made a couple of appearances. She pretended to be checking up on Naruto, but surprisingly enough, she'd been trying to talk to the redhead about what had happened during the assassination attempt by Misumi. The woman had constantly asked her if she was alright, something which greatly annoyed and alarmed the girl at the same time.

Of course, she knew _why _the Hokage was so concerned. An attempted murder alone was usually only enough to break the average person. Adding the malevolent chakra she'd felt pouring out of Naruto a few days prior, even a jounin level shinobi could be driven to the brink of insanity. For the first time in her life, she was proud of her mental toughness. Though the chakra had admittedly scared the shit out of her, she'd been able to quickly bounce back from the experience. It'd take much more than that to bring her down. Apparently the Hokage had seen this too, as she hadn't bothered to stop by today.

It didn't take long for her mind to shift back to the strange chakra she'd felt coming from the seemingly weak genin. As far she knew, he didn't have any special bloodlines or know any overly powerful techniques. So what was it? What she'd felt had easily put Orochimaru's tainted chakra to shame. Fuck, she bet that even Orochimaru would piss his pants if he'd gotten a full blast of that shit. She shook her head and sighed. It wouldn't do her any good to try to figure it out herself. She didn't know enough to come up with any good theories, and no one she knew seemed willing to tell her anything. On the other hand, she didn't really know anyone in the village anyway, and a third of the people she **did** know was sleeping blissfully unaware in front her. Another sigh escaped her. _What the fuck was the big secret?  
_

She quickly checked the door before reaching an unsteady hand towards Naruto's head. During her time alone with him, she'd found that stroking his unruly hair was disturbingly calming. It felt like a strange mix between hair and fur, something which greatly puzzled and pleased her at the same time. Naturally, she'd never tell anyone else about it. It wouldn't do any good for her reputation if someone found out. She felt herself began to relax, and a small content smirk began to form on her face. Maybe she'd ask Shizune for some scissors next time she visited. He wouldn't miss a lock or two of that disorderly mop he called hair. While she was playing with his hair, she failed to notice the teenagers standing dumbfounded in the doorway.

"...What are you doing?!" Tayuya's head snapped up to stare wide-eyed at the genin. She hadn't even sensed them coming! A few of them were gawking rudely at her, and it didn't take her long to figure out why. She recognized them as a couple of the brats who were chasing after Sasuke. The fat one had killed Jirobou, and the dog boy was probably the one who took out Sakon and Ukon. There were also a few girls in the group. She was only able to identify the one with the pink hair, and remembered that she was Naruto's annoying teammate. She also noticed that the Hyuuga girl was glaring at her with something akin to murderous intent. The one with the dog was the first to speak.

"You!" He yelled, pointing an accusing finger at the former Sound nin. Tenten, Sakura, Ino, and Hinata all stared confusedly at Kiba.

"You know her?" Sakura asked. He nodded and continued to gawk disbelievingly at the girl. Akamaru began to growly lowly from inside Kiba's jacket.

"Yeah! She's one of the bastards who-" Before he could finish his sentence, Shikamaru jabbed him sharply in the ribs. "-Hey! What was that for!" He yelped. The lazy chuunin only sighed and shook his head.

"Don't. She's a genin of Konoha now."

"What?! But how is she still alive?! I thought you said Temari kicked her a-" The room suddenly dropped ten degrees in temperature. A fearful shudder swept through all those present, scaring even the normally calm Shikamaru into submission. Kiba slowly turned towards Tayuya with a nervous grin plastered on his face. "Ah...so...how's Naruto?" The temperature in the room dropped another ten degrees, and the dog boy wisely took a step back. Deciding to save Kiba's ass (again), the pineapple-headed chuunin stepped forward with a sigh.

"Troublesome. Look, we just stopped by to pay Naruto a visit. Has he at least moved in the last few days?" She slowly shook her head, still glaring at the cowering genin hiding behind Shikamaru. A small movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she turned to see the Hyuuga girl standing on the opposite side of Naruto's bed. The girl was staring down at him with what looked like..._affection_. The redhead bit back a snarl. Forgetting all about the idiotic genin behind Shikamaru, she turned her glare full force on Hinata.

_'How dare she look at him like that?! If she lays one fucking finger on him I'll-'_ Her thoughts were abruptly cut off when the girl reached a slightly trembling hand towards Naruto's face. As if moving on its own accord, Tayuya's arm automatically shot out and gripped the Hyuuga around tightly the wrist, startling everyone in the room including herself. She quickly snapped out of her surprise and fixed Hinata with her most even stare.

"Don't. Fucking. Touch him." The words sounded strange coming out of her mouth. She didn't trust the girl for a second. For all she knew, the Hyuuga could have been trying to assassinate the boy while he slept. The Hyuuga clan was known for being the most contemptuous family in Konoha, according to Orochimaru. She also knew that they specialized in attacks that damaged the insides of one's body. One quick strike to the heart and no one would be the wiser. Fuck, Naruto's so called 'friends' could all be in this together! In her own mind, she felt that her paranoia was justified; after all, even the most absent-minded of people would notice the glares and jibes constantly thrown his way by villagers and shinobi alike. What made this girl any different? She vehemently silenced the voice in the back of her mind telling her that she was jealous.

Hinata, along with the others standing in the room, looked taken aback for a few seconds. Surprisingly enough, she was also the first one to recover from the initial shock of the girl's abrasive statement. She gave Tayuya a fierce glare of her own, subconsciously activating the Byakugan.

"What did you say?" She asked, her voice carrying an angry edge. Who the hell was this girl? How _dare_ she try to keep her away from her Naruto-kun? In the back of the room, Kiba was floored. They'd been a team for almost a whole year now, and he'd _never_ heard her use such a dangerous tone of voice or speak so forcefully. Shino was right; women are fucking _scary_.

"You heard me. Back the fuck up." The air in the room was heavy with tension. No one wanted to be the first to speak, and no one wanted to be the one to get in the middle of the growing fight. Luckily for all parties involved, Shizune just happened to walk through the door.

"Oh! I didn't expect there to be so many visitors here this late in the afternoon." The shinobi not involved in the confrontation let loose a small breath of relief. To them, the appearance of the medic-nin was nothing short of a miracle from Kami-sama himself. The woman smiled sadly at the young ninja. "I'm sorry, but visiting hours are ending soon. I'm afraid you'll have to leave for the evening." Glad to have a good excuse to leave, the shinobi nearest to the exit mumbled a farewell and quickly ducked out of the door, leaving Shizune, Hinata, Tayuya, Sakura and Naruto alone in room. Shizune stared puzzled at Hinata and Tayuya.

"What's going on?" She questioned, noticing the staring match going on between the two girls. It looked like she had arrived just in time. Hinata wrenched her arm from Tayuya's grip in a surprising show of strength.

"Nothing, Shizune-san. I was just leaving." She turned briskly on her heel and walked calmly towards the door. Before she left, she turned to give the redhead one last warning glare; a glare that clearly said _'Watch your back, bitch' _to anyone who managed to see it. The dark-haired woman lifted a curious eyebrow as she gazed down at the only girl left in the room.

"You've been busy." Tayuya snorted loudly in response. "So, has he shown any signs of waking? Pain? Discomfort?" The girl slowly shook her head while Shizune quickly scribbled something down on Naruto's medical chart. She then proceeded to change his IV bag and reposition a few of the needles that had managed to slip out of his arms. After writing a few more things down on the clipboard, she smiled warmly at the crippled girl. "Do you need anything before I go?" The redhead nodded and motioned towards the empty pitcher resting on the bedside table.

"Some water." Shizune smiled again and easily filled the pitcher three quarters of the way to the top with cold water. She set it down in its original position and turned to the girl again.

"Anything else?" The genin looked thoughtful for a few seconds before noticing the pink-haired girl still standing nervously in the room.

"Yeah. Why the hell's she still in here?" She asked, jerking her thumb towards Sakura.

"Ah, that's right, you probably don't know yet. This is Tsunade-sama's new medical apprentice. Being that she serves directly under the hospital director, she has a few more privileges than the average shinobi." She glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall. "Sorry that I have to cut this visit so short, but I really must be going. I have a few more patients to check up on before the night shift starts." She hastily made her way towards the door, only stopping to glance back at the Hokage's apprentice. "Don't stay too late, Sakura-san. Tayuya needs to get her rest."

"Hai, Shizune-sama!" The woman gave her one last small smile before disappearing from the room. A small uncomfortable silence settled in the room soon after the woman left. Neither had much to talk about, and as far as they knew, they didn't have much in common either. Deciding to break the silence, Sakura gave the girl a bright smile.

"Your name's Tayuya, right? I've never heard a name like that before. Where are you from?" Though she was trying to act nonchalant, Tayuya didn't buy it for a second. Instead of humoring the girl with a glare, she decided to focus her attention on the boy who had somehow managed to save her life. Sakura's smile dimmed slightly at the obvious rejection for conversation. Inside of her mind, Inner Sakura was piping hot with fury, all but commanding her primary personality to strangle the girl until she spoke.

"I heard Kakashi-sensei found you on the outskirts of the village. Were you attacked?" Once again, Tayuya didn't bother to reply. Sakura's patience was quickly wearing thin. She didn't have long before the night shift officially started; Exactly nine minutes according to the clock. She desperately racked her brain for something that they had in common. While she was a naturally curious girl, she also felt that there was something off about Naruto's new friend. Her eyes widened in realization as she figured out exactly what they had in common:

Naruto.

She mentally pat herself on the back and rekindled her smile. Maybe if they could agree on something involving the blond, she would finally get the foulmouth to open up a little. "I feel kind of sorry for you, though. Naruto's a handful, isn't he?" Tayuya's ears twitched ever so slightly. _'Bingo,'_ Sakura thought, smirking triumphantly to herself. Not wanting the chance to get away, she quickly continued. "He somehow always manages to get himself into stupid situations like this. It's a wonder that he isn't dead yet." The redhead slightly lowered her head, an action which looked a lot like a nod of agreement to the Hokage's apprentice. "I can't tell you how many times Sasuke and I have had to save his ass! Just off the top of my head, we've had to save him from Zabuza and Haku on our mission to Wave Country, in the fight against Orochimaru in the Forest of Death, and Sasuke even saved Naruto from Gaara in the attack on Konoha!"

She paused for a moment to gauge Tayuya's reaction. The girl's shoulders were trembling; probably trying to fight the urge to laugh. She felt a bit of guilt for telling a complete stranger all about Naruto's shortcomings, and decided to defend him a bit before the girl got the wrong idea. "Don't get me wrong, though. He's a great guy once you get to know him, and really loyal and friendly. If only he'd stop goofing off or stop asking me for dates all the time -- " She noticed that the redhead flinched a bit violently at that statement, " -- and actually trained, he might be a better shinobi."

That did it. Tayuya whipped her head around so fast that she was certain she gave herself whiplash. Sakura subconsciously took a small step back after seeing the vicious look on her face. "SHUT THE FUCK UP. YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT NARUTO, YOU FLAT-CHESTED LOW-CLASS BILLBOARD BROW!" Sakura's jaw felt like it was touching the floor. One moment the girl was laughing along with her, and the next she was spouting off insults! She put on a scowl of her own as she felt righteous anger build up in her chest.

"What the hell do you mean I don't know Naruto?! He's been my teammate for almost a fucking year, and you've only known him for a week at the most!" She screamed back, feeling Inner Sakura begin to take over. It wasn't in her character to swear, but her other half was more than willing to.

"How long you've known him doesn't mean shit! You don't think he trains? Huh?!" She yelled, curling her good hand into a fist. "This past week, he's done nothing BUT work his ass off! Fuck, we'd leave this shithole at eleven in the morning and he wouldn't bring me back until fucking _midnight_. And _you _think he doesn't train?!"

"Shut up! You don't know anything! The only time I've ever seen Naruto train is when Kakashi-sensei _makes_ him!" Tayuya chuckled bitterly at her pathetic attempt to justify herself.

"Exactly, bitch. The only time _you've_ seen him. How can you watch Naruto when you're always fawning over the faggot Uchiha?" Sakura narrowed her eyes in anger, only further amusing the former Sound-nin. "That's right, Naruto's told me all about how you pathetically follow the asshole around, groveling like a whore for just a glance from the boy you know you'll never have!"

The pink-haired kunoichi fought back furious tears. It seemed as if her words were hitting every single sore spot in her body. However, she wasn't quite done yet. Tayuya smirked and leaned towards the girl with a condescending air about her. Fuck, she was loving this.

"Wanna know something else, Pinky?" She asked, her smirk growing into a mischievous grin. "I was one of the guys who kidnapped your boyfriend." Sakura reeled back as if she'd been struck. It all made sense! Why no one, not even Naruto, would tell her where the girl was from! It also explained Kiba and Chouji's reaction to seeing her, and Shikamaru's hasty attempt to keep them from revealing it. Her legs suddenly felt weak from the confession, and she slowly sank to her knees in disbelief.

"You...you monster!" She yelled, much to the other girl's amusement. She snorted at the sheer patheticness of her actions.

"What, are you gonna cry now? Go ahead, run back home to your shitty little house and cry. I'm tired of looking at your fucking Pepto Bismol-colored hair anyway." Sakura slowly lifted her head until she was staring the former Sound-nin square in the face. Her eyes were filled with murderous intent as she sprung up on her feet to attack.

She stretched her hands towards the girl's neck, fully intending to strangle her where she sat. Unfortunately, she'd vastly under estimated the crippled kunoichi; she wasn't a former member of Orochimaru's elite bodyguards for nothing. With a quick backhand to the attacking girl's face, she sent Naruto's teammate crashing back against the opposite wall.

"Is that all you've got? Pathetic. No wonder the faggot left; with weak bastards like you bringing him down, there's no fucking way he could get stronger in this hellhole. Looks to me like Naruto's the only one capable of bringing the shithead back." Sakura felt tears unwillingly begin to spring from her eyes as she nursed her stinging cheek. To be honest, she hadn't even seen the blow coming. The girl had remained completely motionless until the last second, and she was thoroughly ashamed that she couldn't even a beat a girl who only had the use of one arm. She'd never admit it in a million years, but the girl was right; she was pathetic. Sobbing openly now, she got to her feet and rushed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. She had a lot to think about.

As soon as she was sure the girl was gone, Tayuya let loose a tired sigh. She really hadn't meant to fly of the handle like that, but she couldn't allow one of Naruto's so called 'friends' to slander him while he was unable to defend himself. Plus, she hadn't really had the chance to insult anyone in the past few days. Not counting the boy currently in a coma, of course. "You owe me for that, idiot," She said with a small grin. She rolled her chair a little closer to the bed and leaned forward onto his arm, using it as a makeshift pillow as she had done for the past two nights. It wasn't the most comfortable position to sleep in, but it was thousands of times better than sleeping in her own bed and dealing with the nightmares involving their confrontation with Misumi.

The scene that seemed to constantly pop up was when the chuunin rammed a kunai through Naruto's gut and tossed him into the stream. The small river would always turn blood red instead of pink like she remembered, and then Misumi would begin to drown her. In _his blood_. She'd woken up screaming the first time, and that was all it took for her to decide to never leave Naruto's side. At least not until he woke up. She yawned widely before settling herself into a comfortable position. Though she was hardly religious, she did say a small prayer to Kami-sama asking for him to wake up tomorrow. It hadn't worked the last couple of nights, but as they say, "Third time's a charm." She smirked up at the blond one last time.

"Goodnight, Naruto."


	8. Chapter 8

**Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. **

**Chapter 8**

Hideous.

She curled her dainty hands into fists as she stared into the full length mirror resting against her wall. It opened up into three panels; all of them making her look equally disgusting. She cast a quick glance towards the door to make sure it was locked before reaching a trembling hand towards the zipper of her jacket. She wasn't too worried about anyone looking in on her with the Byakugan. There was a strict rule against using their bloodline to peep into another person's room--barring emergencies of course. However, there was no rule against barging into another member's room. To be honest, it didn't make much sense to her.

Putting those thoughts aside for the time being, she slowly zipped down her jacket until it hung open to reveal her tight mesh undershirt. Her cheeks immediately began to heat up as she took notice of her more valuable assets. She hadn't gotten a good look at Tayuya's breasts, but hers were certainly bigger than Sakura's.

Though she'd never say it out loud, the pink-haired kunoichi was more like a piece of plywood than an actual woman. Hinata couldn't stop the smirk that appeared on her pale, delicate face. She remembered reading in a certain orange book (She barely made it past the first chapter before passing out) that most men preferred their women well endowed, and she hoped that Naruto was no different.

Hinata gently slid the large jacket off of her small frame, letting it fall and crumple to the floor. After hesitating for a minute or two, she decided to also remove her undershirt. If she couldn't even muster up the courage to look at her own body naked, how was she ever going to win Naruto?

It was obvious that the blond had a strong attraction to confidence. His crush, Sakura, practically oozed the stuff from every pore of her body. The way that she constantly threw herself at Sasuke despite his numerous rejections proved it. It was one of the two things about the girl that Hinata truly envied. The other being that she was Naruto's teammate.

She pulled the tight fitting top over head and tossed it on top of her discarded jacket, getting a good look at herself topless for the first time since she became a genin. To be honest, it wasn't quite as bad as she thought. Her form was still as slender as she remembered, and the only thing that had really changed in her upper body was the size of her bust. Unable to help herself, a small bit of pride welled up in her chest.

That pride gave her the confidence she needed to continue undressing. Before her shyness could interfere, she quickly slid her pants and underwear down in one smooth motion. That was a mistake. She suddenly remembered exactly why she stopped undressing in the mirror. Compared to the other kunoichi in the Rookie Nine, Hinata felt her legs were short and pudgy. They didn't seem to fit the rest of her slim body, and she fought back the urge to break down into disappointed tears. After a year, not much had changed.

Naruto would never notice her as she was now. Her hair was hideously short; even compared to Sakura's new hairstyle. She remembered how Naruto would always comment on his teammate's long, flowing, bubblegum locks in the academy. A sudden image of herself with pink hair gave her the immediate compulsion to gag. Even if she would look good with pink hair, she doubted that her father or the rest of the Hyuuga main branch would approve. Besides, Sakura's hair looked more like a certain indigestion medicine than bubblegum.

The only thing she could think to do was to let her hair grow out. The girl who'd been in Naruto's hospital room had long hair too, so perhaps the blond preferred it. Hinata winced angrily at the thought of the foulmouthed redhead. She wouldn't lose her Naruto-kun to some whore who hadn't even been in Konoha for two weeks. Straightening up, she stared her reflection square in the eye.

"I never go back on my word. Naruto-kun will be mine!" She yelled, reveling in the rush of confidence her words gave her.

"Who? And what are you doing?"

Hinata snapped her head around to see her little sister standing curiously in the doorway -- and promptly fainted. Hanabi blinked in mild surprise. Her sister seemed to do a lot of that lately. She glanced at the clock hanging on the wall and grimaced. It was already past nine, and she would have to be up by five to start her training. She quickly concluded that she had two options: One, she could leave her sister naked and sprawled out on the floor until someone happened to barge in to check in on her, allowing herself to quickly hop into bed and be well rested for the undoubtedly intense training session her father had planned for her. Or two, she could make the effort to clothe and drag her sister into bed, missing at least half an hour of sleep.

Sighing softly to herself, she reluctantly trudged into her sister's room. In reality, it was sort of her fault that her sister fainted, and it just wouldn't do for one of the Branch members to find her in such a disorderly and embarrassing position.

Damn her sense of morality. Damn it to hell.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first thing Naruto noticed was that it was dark. He briefly wondered if he was in the sewers of his mind again, but quickly wrote that thought off when he didn't hear the constant dripping of the eternally broken drainage pipe. Unfortunately, that did little to calm his nerves. Thinking that something might've been covering his eyes, he tried to lift his right hand to push it out of the way. When it didn't budge, he began to panic.

_'Am I dead? Am I in purgatory? AM I IN HELL?!'_ Just as he was about to scream bloody murder, something cool and wet dripped onto his 'dead' arm. _'What the hell?'_ He wondered, staring in the direction where he believed his arm was resting. He tried to move his arm again, and was mildly pleased to feel it wriggle a little bit under whatever was resting on top of it. Said object murmured something that distinctly sounded like 'Quit moving, asshole' and dripped another large drop of moisture onto his currently unmovable appendage. The voice was familiar; it reminded him of --

Naruto felt his heart leap into his throat. All of a sudden, everything that had happened before he passed out came flooding back to him in one fell swoop. He remembered it all; meeting the Kyuubi, impaling the enemy Sound-nin, and the look of pure shock and fear on Tayuya's face as he tried to approach her. Wincing slightly, he squashed that memory for the time being to focus on his current dilemma of where the hell he was. Using his intuition, he figured that he was in one of three places: Jail, the training grounds, or at the hospital. Out of the three, only the last one seemed to be the most logical.

Despite how much she pretended to dislike him, he knew Tsunade would never allow him to be dragged off to jail--at least not until he was conscious. Besides, he doubted that Tayuya would be in the same cell with him. The training grounds were also out of the question, as every ninja within a ten mile radius had probably felt Kyuubi's chakra. He had no doubt in his mind that a few of them might even try to kill him and blame his death on the heartless Sound-nin. Seeing as how he wasn't dead, that only left the hospital.

Naruto groaned in agony. This had to be some kind of record! Being thrown into the hospital for the second time in a week was more than embarrassing. It was a blow to his pride as a man and as a shinobi! Before he could continue his self-wallowing tirade, another drop of the mysterious liquid splashed against his skin.

Thankfully, his eyes had somewhat adjusted to the dark room, allowing him to quickly glance over his surroundings. The room looked exactly like the one he and Tayuya had shared during their first meeting. Then again, all of the rooms pretty much looked the same. His eyes drifted to the clock hanging on the opposite wall. 3:24. At least that explained why it was so dark in the room. Confident that he was relatively safe (and alive), he finally allowed his eyes to rest on the girl he had spent the majority of the past week with.

He noticed with some amusement that her left arm was wrapped firmly around his right, and her cheek rested gently against his forearm. He also noticed that her mouth was hanging wide open; Well, that clarified what the liquid making a puddle on his arm was. Even though he was slightly grossed out by the growing river of drool, Naruto honestly couldn't help but feel deeply touched by her actions.

In his short thirteen years of life, no had ever spent so much time at his side as Tayuya had. He wasn't sure how long he had been out, but for some reason, he knew that she'd been there the entire time. It was almost as if he remembered hearing her voice (Swearing at him, of course) while he was asleep. He smiled wryly at his thoughts. While very possible, it was also improbable. The fiery redhead just didn't strike him as the kind of girl who'd spend her free time talking to a comatose boy. A comatose boy whose guts she probably hated.

Still, he was glad that she wasn't completely afraid of him, if her current position was any indication. Deciding he should probably let everyone know that he was okay, he slowly tried to sit up. Until every one of his joints and muscles screamed in pain, that is. He desperately tried to hold in the string of curses that threatened to burst from his mouth, but he couldn't stop a small grunt of pain from slipping past his lips. Apparently he wasn't completely healed yet.

Naruto sighed in disappointment. He was hoping to slip out of the hospital and head home for some ramen, but his body obviously had other ideas. He still felt his body throbbing in pain, but it had at least lessened to a more tolerable level. With nothing left to do, he focused his attention back on Tayuya.

He hadn't really looked at the girl since they'd met; in fact, the only things that he knew about her was that she was a former Sound-nin, had red hair, and an incredibly foul mouth. He was ashamed to admit that he didn't even know what color her eyes were, or what her favorite thing to do was. Hell, he knew about Tenten than he knew about Tayuya, and he'd spent an entire week with the girl! Not that it was all his fault. If he ever tried to look at her, she'd scowl and ask him what the fuck he was looking at, and if he tried to ask her things about herself, she'd answer with an angry "None of your damn business."

He smirked as he remembered how cute she looked when she was flustered or angry. She almost reminded him of Sakura-chan, only his teammate would send him flying twenty or so feet into a building. Speaking of which, she hadn't gotten angry with him since Sasuke--

Naruto fiercely shook his head before he could start thinking of Sasuke. He was done 'bitching', as Tayuya would put it. The blond smiled again as he remembered a conversation they'd had only a day before the incident.

----

_Naruto kneeled on the surface of the stream, desperately trying to catch his breath while staying afloat at the same time. His new sensei was proving to be a slave driver. She'd only allow him to take five minute breaks every hour or so, and even then made him stay on top of the stream. He idly wondered if Sasuke was getting trained as hard as he was. If one of Orochimaru's elite guard was this tough, he'd hate to see how horrible the original was. As usual when he started to think about Sasuke, he began to frown and berate himself for missing his chance to bring him back. Naruto curled his hand into a fist. If only he'd been stronger! If only he'd been a better friend to Sasuke before he left! If only--_

_"Oi, dumbass! What the hell're you doing?!" Naruto snapped his head up to look at Tayuya. Her eyes were dangerously narrow, and her left hand was pumping furiously into the air. "Are you thinking about that faggot of a Uchiha again?!"_

_"N-nani?! No way!" He yelled, glaring right back at her. She snorted in disbelief._

_"I'm nowhere near as stupid as you are. I saw that fagstruck look on your face. What, were you daydreaming about fucking him in the ass or something?" The blond growled lowly._

_"I told you, I wasn't thinking about Sasuke!"_

_"Yeah? Then what the hell else has you looking like someone just kicked the shit out of your puppy?" She asked, her frown deepening. He opened his mouth several times to speak, but he couldn't think of a pliable excuse. Tayuya sighed and ran a frustrated hand through her hair._

_"Look, Naruto. If you really want to bring the traitor back, then get off your ass and stop bitching! The only way you're going to make a difference is if you quit worrying about what's already happened, and focus on what you're going to do. You're not gonna bring him back by crying. Got it?" Naruto smiled warmly at her and nodded. She was right. Wallowing in self-pity wasn't going to do anything.  
_

_"Thanks, Tayuya. I needed that." She blushed slightly and turned her head to glare at something to her right._

_"Yeah, yeah, just get the fuck up and back to work. Your break's over."_

_"Hai, Tayuya-sensei!" He yelled, hopping up and forming another twenty shadow clones. He missed the small smile resting inconspicuously on her face._

----

He redirected his grin towards the girl snoring softly on his arm. He hated to admit it, but she actually looked a lot better when she wasn't scowling. She almost seemed...content. Even though he really didn't want to disturb her, the drool on his arm was starting to itch. As slowly as humanly possible, he tried to ease his arm out of her grip to at least get some circulation going. Unfortunately for him, Tayuya only grabbed on tighter and frowned in her sleep.

"Don't leave..." she whimpered, causing Naruto to raise a curious eyebrow. This was new. Deciding to see what else she'd say, he made another half hearted attempt to remove her from his arm. As she did before, she tightened her grip on his arm and tried to pull it back underneath her head. He was amused by the action, but still a little disappointed that she didn't say anything else. He tried again, but only received the same response. Feeling that his arm was going to need amputation at that rate, the blond decided to wake her up. He slipped a gentle hand onto her shoulder and gave her a small shake.

"Nngh...not now fatass...get your own damn food..." Naruto fought the urge to laugh. She was obviously thinking of the guy Chouji killed in their latest mission. Smirking to himself, he realized that he had found a new hobby. If it weren't for the fact that his arm was about to become severed from her grip, he would continue this new game. He poked her again, much to her apparent annoyance.

"Damnit, leave me alone..." By now, it was obvious that shaking and poking wasn't going to cut it.

"Tayuya." He whispered, giving her another gentle shove. She groaned again, but lifted her head to tiredly glare up at him.

"What the hell do you want, Naruto?" Tayuya grumbled, frowning cutely. Blue eyes met brown, and for five seconds, neither one of them blinked. It was Tayuya who made the first move, her eyes widening to almost comical proportions. "Holy shit! Naruto!" She shrieked, causing Naruto to cringe from the noise. He was positive that she woke up whoever was in the rooms next to them. "You're awake! Holy shit! You're awake!" Unable to take her screeching, he quickly placed his hand over her mouth.

"Shhhh! If you keep screaming like that, I won't be the only one you wake up," he said, grinning widely at her shocked expression. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, and hesitantly pushed his hand away from her mouth. She frowned slightly at the strained grin on his face, but decided to cast it aside until she had some free time to think about it.

"Well, it's your fault for surprising me like that," she huffed. She sat back in her chair and stretched, hearing and feeling her joints pop back into place. Sleeping in that position really was murder on her back. "How do you feel?" The blond's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. Hearing the normally stoic and angry girl ask him how he was feeling was something that failed to register in his diluted and admittedly slow mind.

"Uh...fine, I guess. My muscles are a bit tight, and it hurts when I try to move. My arm feels alright, though," he shrugged, flexing his recently freed appendage. An unidentified expression flashed across Tayuya's face, further piquing Naruto's curiosity. "What?"

"Oh. I uh, I'm supposed to call Shizune when you wake up." She grabbed the small device sitting on the nightstand and vigorously pushed the glowing red button as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. After a minute or so of watching her thoroughly molest the machine, the boy cleared his throat to get her attention.

"So, how long have I been out?" She glanced up at him long enough to answer his question.

"Three days." Naruto groaned aloud.

"Did anyone come by?" Tayuya flinched slightly. She was hoping he wouldn't ask.

"Yeah." For a few seconds, neither of them spoke. When it became clear that she wasn't going to elaborate, he coughed slightly and began speaking again.

"Who?" Naruto noticed with some concern that she flinched again, and cast her a slightly worried look.

"The hag and Shizune came by first. Then some old pervert, a one-eyed fucker and his boyfriend, a couple of green faggots, that pineapple-headed coward, a fat guy, dog boy, and some other ugly bitches." For some reason, her description of his visitors didn't phase him in the least. In the time since they'd been together, he'd gotten used to her foul mouth and blunt nature, and actually found it amusing. He found it even more amusing that she only used Shizune's real name.

"So, you mean, Tsunada-obaachan, Shizune-neechan, Ero-sennin, Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei, Fuzzy Eyebrows and Super Fuzzy Eyebrows, Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, and some girls came by?" He asked, smiling slightly. She shrugged and continued to click on the button. It's not like she knew who those people were. "Who were the girls? Did Sakura-chan come?!" At the mention of the pink-haired kunoichi's name, she flinched again, dropping the call button to the floor.

"Yeah." Naruto rolled his eyes. The redhead was being unusually tight-lipped about this particular subject. If she didn't want to talk about something, she'd usually tell him to 'Shut the fuck up' or 'Mind your own damn business.'

"So," he started, "What did she say?" Tayuya grit her teeth. She was hoping that he wouldn't ask about his backstabbing whore of a teammate. And where the fuck was Shizune?! She'd been clicking the damn button for almost two minutes straight! "Tayuya?" Much to her relief, the Hokage and her apprentice chose that moment to burst into the room.

"Naruto!" Tsunade yelled, glancing at his bed anxiously. It was obvious that she'd just woken up, as she still had her robe and slippers on. Her hair was sticking up in dozens of different directions, and her eyes were still pink from lack of sleep. If she wasn't so relieved to see the woman, Tayuya was sure that she'd be laughing her ass off at that moment. That didn't stop her from commenting, though.

"You look like shit." The Hokage scowled briefly at the girl, but hurried over to the other side of Naruto's bed.

"How do you feel? Can you sit up?" The boy shook his head.

'When I try to move, my body feels like it's on fire." Shizune walked over to Tayuya's side.

"That's normal when recovering from chakra exhaustion. Your chakra points are probably sore from expending so much at once," The young woman explained as she formed a few seals and placed her hands on his chest. Her teacher did the same, except she placed her hands on his left arm. After a few seconds, she moved towards his lower stomach and Shizune moved towards his right arm.

"That's okay Shizune-neechan, my right arm doesn't hurt at all." Both medics glanced at his right arm, then up at Tayuya. The redhead flushed slightly and scowled.

"What?!" She exclaimed, fighting against the redness in her cheeks. The women smirked knowingly but didn't comment. It was easy enough to see what the girl had been up to while no one was around. A few minute later, both canceled their jutsu and stood back a bit from the bed. There wasn't much to do, as his own healing ability had already fixed all of the larger injuries.

"Alright, Naruto, try to sit up." He nodded slightly and slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position, wincing as a few of the bones in his arms popped back into place. Tsunade looked him over with worried eyes.

"How's the pain?" Naruto grinned widely and gave her a thumbs up.

"Good as new!" The older woman smiled and moved closer to her surrogate little brother.

"Good." She drew back her fist and hit him squarely on the top of his head.

"Ouch! What the hell was that for, you old hag!" He yelled, rubbing his now sore head. She crossed her arms and glared.

"For worrying me sick, brat! Next time I'll let you heal on your own!" Still scowling, the genin crossed his arms across his chest.

"I didn't ask you to heal me!"

"Oh really? Then how would you like me to break every bone in your body?!"

"Just try it, granny!"

"Brat!"

"Witch!"

"Enough!" Shizune screamed, her face red with exertion. Tayuya, Naruto, and Tsunade all stared at the woman with something akin to shock. The normally gentle and kind woman was emitting violent waves of anger, strong enough to bring even the most experienced and battle-hardened shinobi to their knees. "Can't you two go ten minutes without fighting over every little thing?!" Both blondes hung their heads.

"Gomen nasai, Shizune-san," they muttered in unison, bowing simultaneously. The Hokage's apprentice smiled and nodded with acceptance.

"Now, shouldn't you tell them what you have planned, Tsunade-sama?" As if forgetting her previous transgression, the busty blonde stood up straight. She cleared her throat and turned to the two genin with an air of authority.

"Before I tell you anything, there's something that Tayuya should know. Right, Naruto?" Tayuya lifted her eyebrows and turned her head to look at him. He was staring down at his hands, his eyes hidden by his messy blond hair. It was obvious to the girl that it was something he didn't want to tell her. She frowned and lowered her head to look up into his eyes.

"What is it?" She asked, growing a bit concerned at his forlorn expression. Deciding to lift the mood a little bit, she smirked and poked his cheek. "Are you possessed by an evil demon or something?"

He gripped the sheets tightly between his fingers and turned his face away from her. The smirk on her face dropped immediately.

"H-holy shit! For real?!" The girl shrieked, her eyes wide with disbelief. Suddenly, everything that happened within the last week made sense. His shitty taijutsu form, the villagers' obvious disdain and hatred towards him, and the evil red chakra she'd seen only a few days prior. She let her arm fall limply to her side. This was far too much to take in at once.

"I...I'm not possessed by it," he started, raising his eyes to meet hers, "But it was sealed into my stomach by the Fourth Hokage to protect the village. He wasn't strong enough to kill it, so this was the next best thing. I won't hate you or anything if you decide not to train me anymore." She felt herself relax a little bit. Now that she thought about it, his cheerful and stupid nature completely contradicted what she'd read about demons during her studies. She felt her curiosity pique a bit at the sudden memory. There were all kinds of demons out there, so...

"Which one is it?" Tayuya asked, her voice a little shaky. Naruto glanced up in surprise. He wasn't expecting her to even talk to him after his revelation.

"What?" The girl sighed at his stupidity. There's no possible way he could actually be the demon with a mind that could barely keep up in a normal conversation.

"Which demon is it? Do you know?" He smiled wryly at her question.

"The strongest of the Bijuu; Kyuubi no Youkai." The room was deathly quiet. Shizune looked on nervously, hoping that everything would turn out all right. Naruto had finally found himself another friend, and she'd hate to see him hurt if the girl couldn't accept him. Besides, she'd started to like the girl. She reminded her of a younger Tsunade, fiery temper and all. The medic was knocked out of her reverie by a silent chuckle. The chuckle grew into full on laughter, and before long, the former sound-nin was gasping for breath. Naruto, Tsunade, and Shizune all stared at Tayuya with confusion.

"This...this is fucking great! We're gonna kick Orochimaru's ass! Why the hell didn't you tell me this before?!" She panted between breaths. Naruto stared at the girl with something akin to awe.

"You're not scared?" He asked, still unable to comprehend her reaction. No one had ever _laughed _about him hosting one of the strongest demons in existence. She snorted and shook her head.

"Hell no! Shit, with that kind of raw power, there's no fucking _way _you can't take down that bastard!" Tsunade felt tears prickling at the back of her eyes. After thirteen years of loneliness, Naruto had someone his own age who could truly accept him for what he was. She glanced over at her apprentice to see that she too was wiping at her eyes with the sleeve of her robe. Smiling softly, she loudly cleared her throat before the scene got too emotional.

"Don't you want to hear what I have planned?" she questioned. Two sets of curious eyes turned upon on her, both of them still shining with excitement. Satisfied that she had their attention, she struck a dramatic pose and pointed in their direction. "I'm sending you two on a three year training mission!" The teens sweatdropped and glanced at each other before turning back to the Hokage.

"Are you stupid?" Tayuya deadpanned. Her blond partner nodded his agreement. He had been in the room when Tsunade told her that she'd probably never walk again, and sending someone who couldn't even walk on a training mission was suicide. The woman smiled mysteriously and shook her head.

"You didn't let me finish. Now, before you get your hopes up, this entire idea is only in theory. Understood?" The redhead felt her heart skip a beat. Had she come up with a way for her to walk again? It was impossible! According the blonde herself, the bones in her legs were practically dust, and nothing short of a miracle would ever heal them. Was that all a lie to keep her in line? She frowned at the thought. While the hag was annoying and slightly cunning, she didn't seem like the kind of person that would blatantly lie just to suit her own needs. So what the hell had she done? Still, she nodded along with Naruto and tried to keep from looking too optimistic. The Hokage smiled and took a small calming breath.

"As I said before, you two will be going on a three year long training mission along with Jiraiya and another jounin. In order for this mission to work, you-" She said, pointing at Tayuya, "Will have to gain full mobility in your legs again." The girl swallowed nervously. It was getting extremely hard to hold in her excitement. "Conventional methods won't work, and even someone of my skill and chakra level couldn't piece together all those tiny pieces of bone and cartilage. The only way for you to move again is to completely recreate and form the bones to their previous state." Both genin blinked.

"Is that even possible?" Naruto asked with disbelief. His surrogate mother smiled mischievously and nodded.

"You should know better than anyone, Naruto. Remember this?" She asked as she pointed to the jewel on her forehead. It took a few seconds, but his face eventually brightened in understanding.

"You're going to put _that_ on _her_?!" He yelped. The girl snapped her head around to look at him. She gripped the front of his hospital gown and began to shake him back and forth.

"What?! What does that do?! Spit it out!" Shizune giggled at their expressions. Naruto looked like a gaping fish out of water, while Tayuya looked exactly like a rabid fox fighting for a bite of that same fish. Tsunade too had a large grin on her face as she observed their interaction. It was almost cute to watch. Deciding to put him out of his misery, she answered the question for him.

"This jewel isn't just for decoration. It is a seal that holds the chakra I've been storing up for years. Any and all damage sustained is immediately healed, even allowing me to regrow lost limbs. However, due to the rapid cell regeneration that occurs during the jutsu, it also shortens my lifespan. My plan is to recreate this same jutsu onto you. It requires a certain amount of chakra control to sustain, but I'm confident that a former member of the Sound Four can do it. Do you accept my offer?" Tayuya stared at her as if she'd grown a third head.

"Fuck yeah! Do you even have to ask?!" She exclaimed, finally letting the boy go. Losing a few years of her life was well worth the benefits of gaining mobility in her legs again. The woman smiled and nodded before turning towards the door.

"Good. Report to my office at 9am to begin the preparations for the mission." The teens nodded their agreement as she walked out of the door.

"Do you need anything before I go?" Shizune asked, appearing next to the bed. After both genin shook their heads, she bid them goodnight and hurried after her mentor. As soon as she was sure that they were out of earshot, Tayuya let loose an uncharacteristically girly squeal, thoroughly destroying Naruto's eardrums.

"Fuck yeah, I got my fucking legs back! Did you hear that shit, Naruto?! I got my fucking legs back!" She screamed. He winced and covered his ears.

"Ahh, that's great and all, but shouldn't you go back to sleep? You still have five hours until we have to be at Tsunade-obaachan's office." He said, desperately trying to get her to quiet down. He could still feel his ears ringing from her earlier ear piercing screech.

"I'm too fucking excited to..." She suddenly yawned in the middle of her sentence, causing the blond to smirk triumphantly.

"See? You do need sleep. You don't want the jutsu to mess up because you were tired, right?" Tayuya frowned but nodded her agreement.

"I guess you're right, for once." Naruto smiled cheekily and moved to get out of his bed.

"Want me to put you in your bed?" He asked, stretching his legs out towards the wall. She shook her head as he stretched.

"Nah, I'll just share your bed." Both teens froze at the implications of her words.

"N-nani?!" the boy yelped, his face turning a deep red color. Tayuya sputtered and waved her hand in front of her defensively.

"Shit! I didn't mean it like that! I meant, y-you know, like I was before!" She was sure that her face was almost the same color as her hair at this point. Naruto let loose a small breath of relief before turning to get back into his bed with a nervous grin.

"Oh, well, do you want my pillow? I probably won't be able to sleep tonight anyway." She nodded slightly and took the offered pillow.

"You won't let me oversleep, right? Cause if you do, I'll kick your ass." He smirked and shook his head.

"Don't worry, I want you to get your legs back as soon as possible! Then we can both beat up Sasuke-teme and Orochimaru!" Tayuya buried her face in the pillow to hide her blush. To have someone genuinely care about her was something she hadn't experienced in all her years of service under Orochimaru. Yet, here in Konoha where all of the 'fools' and 'weaklings' existed, she'd found a real friend in only two weeks. Of course, she wasn't going to let Naruto know about any of this.

"Yeah, yeah, quit yelling and let me get to sleep," she muttered. She felt her eyelids slowly began to slip closed. With all the excitement in the last half hour, she'd forgotten how exhausted she was from the previous day. Her last coherent thought was of the future, and how much her life would change starting at nine o'clock the next morning.

Little did she know that Naruto was thinking about the same exact thing.


	9. Chapter 9

**Melody of the Fox  
**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 9**

"Hokage-sama, Uzumaki-san and his teammate are here to see you." Tsunade glanced up to see Hagane Kotetsu standing in the doorway. The chuunin looked a little more disheveled than usual, almost as if he'd been forced to dodge attacks from a raging academy student.

"Send them in." He bowed and opened the door a little wider to allow the genin to walk (and roll) into the room. She noticed with some interest that Tayuya and Kotetsu held a brief glaring match on the way in. Knowing the girl's uncanny knack for rubbing people the wrong way, it was obvious that the two had gotten into an altercation shortly before entering.

"Oi, Blondie!" Tayuya yelled, turning her attention away from the angry chuunin, "You need to keep your lackeys in line before they get hurt!" The Hokage gave the grumbling young man a questioning look, but didn't press the matter. She dismissed him with a wave of her hand and turned to glance at the clock hanging above the entrance to her office. They were five minutes early, but she more than welcomed the distraction from signing off on paperwork.

She opened the top drawer of her desk and pulled out a large manila envelope. The folder was easily three inches thick, and it looked to be barely holding in the massive amount of paper inside. It was almost hard to believe that every single sheet of paper in the folder pertained to the fiery redhead waiting impatiently in front of her desk, the majority of it documenting her switch from a prisoner to a Konoha ninja. After finding what she was looking for, she lifted her eyes to address the genin in front of her.

"Naruto, you might want to take a seat. Since you two are early, you'll have to wait a few minutes for Jiraiya to get here. He knows more about this mission than I do," she said, motioning towards one of the chairs resting against the wall. When she'd become the Hokage, Tsunade had completely remodeled the office.

Gone were the old, hardwood chairs and drabby atmosphere that used to permeate the room. The walls were now painted a bright peach, and dark green curtains hung from the open sliding door behind her. She'd redone the carpeting too, going with a deep forest green to complement the walls and hide the stains that would undoubtedly be brought in by especially reckless shinobi. Miniature trees sat in every corner of the office, each resting next to a large, comfortable plush chair. Naruto pulled one of the chairs from the corner closest to him and set it down next to Tayuya. When he was situated, the redhead let out a very unladylike snort.

"Where is he, anyway? I'd like to see the guy that Orochimaru bitches about on a daily basis." At that moment, a large puff of smoke appeared directly in front of them. The smoke soon cleared to reveal a large orange and blue frog, Jiraiya standing proudly on its head.

"Did someone mention Myouboku Mountain's monk of the frog spirits, the great toad hermit Jiraiya?!" he yelled, one hand extended out in front of him for dramatic effect. Tayuya slowly turned to stare at Tsunade with a deadpan expression.

"...You're sending us on a three year mission with him?" She asked, her voice remaining emotionless. Naruto pat her on the shoulder and shook his head with understanding.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to him eventually." The girl shot him a disbelieving glare.

"If I _ever_ get used to a guy like this, please lodge the sharpest kunai you have into my eye socket." Tsunade stifled a giggle at Jiraiya's down-trodden expression. The last person to blatantly insult her former teammate so harshly had been Naruto, as most people were too afraid to say something bad about one of the Legendary Sannin. After recovering from his momentary depression, the man dismissed his summon and hopped onto the Hokage's desk.

"Neh, Tsunade-hime, can you speed this up? I have more important things to do than explain to a couple of brats what's going to happen in the next few years. They'll find out eventually, right?" He said, reaching for her emergency bottle of sake. She smacked his hand away from the hidden compartment with a scowl.

"No, we can't. This mission briefing is as much for me as it is for them. I need to know everything you're going to be doing, and why you're going to do it." The man rolled his eyes. He turned his attention to the redhead currently glaring burning daggers at him.

"Before I tell you anything, does she know about Naruto yet?" Tsunade nodded.

"Yes, she found out this morning shortly after he woke up. She doesn't seem to have any problems with it." Jiraiya grinned and sat up straight.

"Ah! That makes things so much easier." His face suddenly became deathly serious, causing Tayuya to blink in surprise. He didn't look anything like the lecherous fool she initially took him for.

"The main reason for this mission is to help Naruto learn to use Kyuubi's chakra so that he can defend himself against the Akatsuki. My sources tell me that they're not going to move for a few years, so that gives me plenty of time to get him ready." The girl perked up at this bit of information.

"Akatsuki?" She questioned, cocking her head to the side. The other three shinobi lifted their eyebrows in surprise, and Tsunade leaned forward to study the girl's expression more closely.

"They're a group of rogue ninja trying to collect the nine bijuu. You've heard of them?" Tayuya looked up at the ceiling in thought. Someone had mentioned them, but who?

"Orochimaru used to be a part of the group, if that helps," Jiraiya added. She snapped her fingers and smiled.

"That's it! Yeah, I remember those fuckers now! Two of them tried to attack Orochimaru once while we were escorting him to the Wind country. If the Siamese twins hadn't summoned Rashoumon to help us get away, we would've had our asses handed to us in no time." The Toad Sannin pulled a notebook and pencil from a pocket in his vest.

"Do you remember who they were?" She nodded and held up two fingers. If they were going to give her her legs, she didn't mind giving them a little information in return.

"The first one was a tranny or something. He threw these little spider bombs at us, and they hurt like shit if they exploded on your skin. The weirdest thing was that he had fucking _mouths _in his hands! Bastard probably used them to give himself a blowjob," she said as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Naruto choked on his own spit at her choice of words. His face began to turn red from lack of oxygen, and Tayuya had to smack him on the back a few times to keep him from dying.

"What about the second one?" Tsunade asked, holding in her own smirk. Things were never boring when the redhead was involved.

"Dunno. He was fucking around with Orochimaru while we took on bomberman. All I remember is that he was fat and had a long ass tail." Jiraiya nodded and slipped his notebook back into his vest. He looked thoughtful for a few seconds before nodding to himself again and sat up a little straighter.

"I don't know who the second guy is, but based on your description, the first one is Deidara of the Hidden Rock. He's an S-class missing-nin who specializes in clay-based projectile bombs." Tsunade glanced worriedly at her surrogate little brother. If people like that were after Naruto, it might not be such a good idea to send him on a dangerous training mission outside of the village walls. As if reading her mind, her teammate interrupted her thoughts.

"I can assure you that keeping him within the village walls won't do much for his safety. Itachi and Kisame, the two Akatsuki members assigned to capture Naruto, have already penetrated these walls once. If they wanted to, they could easily do so again." She sighed and nodded her agreement. She knew he was right, but that didn't mean she had to like it. Tayuya shifted around in her wheelchair impatiently.

"Yeah, that's great and all, but what about my legs? When are you gonna fix them?" Jiraiya laughed at her eager expression, causing the girl to scowl and flip him off.

"Actually, we can do the sealing later this morning. I've already completed the scrolls needed to perform the ritual, and drawn most of the chakra mediating seals in the main operating room. However, before we can do anything, two conditions have to be met," he replied. Tayuya narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"What kind of conditions?" Tsunade sighed and rubbed a tired hand through her hair.

"The first is that Naruto will have to contribute some of his chakra in order for the Sōzō Saisei to have enough power to work. While I'm sure that he would be more than willing to help, this technique requires a lot more chakra than even Naruto, Jiraiya and I have at our disposal. Basically, he'll have to tap into Kyuubi's chakra." The girl snorted.

"So? I've still got Orochimaru's dirty chakra in me, what harm could a little bit of Kyuubi's do?" Tsunade shook her head.

"That's just it. We don't know what effects his chakra would have on a normal human's body, let alone a body already infected with Orochimaru's chakra. In short, the process could potentially kill you." The room was silent. Everyone's eyes rested on Tayuya, but her hair covered whatever emotions were crossing over her face in reaction to the news. "If you want, I can give you some more time to think about it."

"Fuck that." The Hokage lifted an eyebrow in mild surprise.

"Excuse me?"

"I said, fuck that. I don't need any time to decide. Dying is better than spending the rest of my life as a paraplegic. I'm a fucking _shinobi._ What the hell kind of life would I lead if I couldn't beat the shit out of other people?" She said with a slightly maniacal grin. Tsunade smiled wryly.

"You haven't heard the second condition yet," she reminded the girl. The redhead stared at her disbelievingly.

"What could possibly be worse than being told that you might get blown the fuck up from the inside by demon chakra?" Sighing, the woman laced her fingers in front of her nose. This was the hard part.

"In order for me to give you your legs back, the village council insists that I put a tracking seal somewhere on your body until you've proven yourself thoroughly trustworthy. If you decide to run," she said, lowering her gaze to meet the girl's, "the seal allows us to immediately teleport to your position and kill you." Up until now, Naruto had been quietly observing the conversation. However, the mention of someone killing one of his friends was not something that sat well with the genin.

"Nani?! What the fuck kind of bullshit decision is that?! What if someone decides to find and kill her just because she's from the Sound?!" He snarled, shooting up from his chair and slamming his fists on the desk. Tsunade frowned up at him disapprovingly.

"Don't you think I've considered that, brat? The only two people who will be able to use this seal will be Jiraiya and myself." She flicked his forehead, sending him flying back into his chair. "Remember your place, Naruto. Even though I let you get away with a lot, I'm still the Hokage, and you _**will** _show me the proper respect." He frowned angrily but nodded his understanding anyway. He knew she was already bending over backwards to help them, but it still didn't make him any less upset.

"Gomen, Obaa-chan," the boy muttered. She nodded and looked at the girl staring thoughtfully at her hands. After a couple minutes of silence, Tayuya slowly looked up at Tsunade with a shockingly bone-chilling expression. It was a mix between hope and desperation, along with a lot of pain and distrust swirling around behind it. It honestly gripped at her heart to see such a scary emotion flickering across the normally angry girl's face, and for the first time, she wondered exactly what had happened in her life to warrant such a despondent look.

"If...if I take the seal, h-how do I know you won't just kill me when you're tired of having me around, or when you can't use me anymore?" She whispered, lowering her head again. Naruto stared over at her with disbelief. This was definitely not the girl he'd met over a week ago at the border to the Sound country. _That _girl had been boastful and proud, with a little craziness thrown in for taste. The girl sitting to his left almost remind him of...

Himself.

The Hokage stood from her seat behind the large oak desk and walked around it until she was standing directly in front of Tayuya. She knelt down to her eye level and smiled.

"Not everyone is like Orochimaru, Tayuya. I know it might be hard to believe right now, but please give us a chance to prove to you that we would never harm you for such a groundless reason. You're a shinobi of the Leaf; isn't it my duty as the Hokage to protect and help you as much as I can?" The redhead turned her eyes away from Tsunade's.

"Orochimaru said the same shit when he asked me to join the Sound. What makes you any different?" The woman chuckled lightly at her question.

"Well, for one, I don't look like a snake." Tayuya smirked from under her long locks of hair. She definitely had a point there. "And, I haven't turned you over to the interrogation and torture department like I would most other prisoners. Instead, I'm giving you a whole new chance at life by healing your legs and allowing you to train yourself to become a powerful kunoichi of the Leaf. What reason would I have to kill you after going through so much trouble to help you live?" Her smile widened slightly as she looked up at the Hokage. While she barely trusted the woman or the Leaf village on her own, she _did_ trust Naruto. If he trusted the two legendary sannin with his life, then by association, so would she.

"Fine, I'll do it. But if you betray me, I'll come back as a ghost and haunt your ass until you gouge your own eyes out with a teaspoon." She turned and pointed at Jiraiya. "That goes for you too, Froggy." Naruto laughed at her nickname for his sensei. Froggy was probably the last thing that would've cross his mind when referring to the perverted toad hermit.

"You don't have to worry about me, kid. I have enough _living _women haunting me than I care to admit." Tsunade rolled her eyes and picked up the envelope containing Tayuya's paperwork.

"Since the jutsu is basically a regenerative technique, there's no need for you to spend any significant amount of time recovering in the hospital. In fact, you can leave for your mission as early as next week if you so choose." Her teammate nodded his agreement.

"The sooner the better. There's no telling exactly what day the three years will be up, and we need all the time we can get." The woman picked up her labcoat and tossed it on over her robe.

"I'll go down to the operating room to make sure everything is in order." She glanced up at the clock. Amazingly, over half an hour had passed since the genin had arrived. "It's 9:30 right now; be down at the hospital in an hour, and we'll begin the sealing process. Jiraiya, come with me to make sure that none of the seals have been tampered with." He hopped off the desk and followed her out of the door, leaving the teens alone in the office. Standing up and stretching, Naruto gripped the handlebars of her wheelchair and leaned over to look at her face.

"So...where to?"  
------------------------------

Tayuya watched the number of bowls pile up on the counter top with mild awe and amusement. They'd only been at Ichiraku Ramen for twenty minutes, and Naruto had somehow managed to put away a whopping thirteen bowls of noodles! She was convinced that if it wasn't for the thirty second wait between servings, he'd already be up to twenty. Shit, forget what she said about him _matching_ Jirobou's maximum stomach capacity. When it came to ramen, he downright _crushed_ the hippo-sized boy. She glanced at her own measly four bowls and sighed. Where the fuck did he put it all?!

"Would you like another bowl?" a feminine voice asked, interrupting her thoughts. She snapped her head around to see the owner's daughter smiling cheerfully down at her from behind the counter.

"Ugh, hell no. I don't think I could even look at another bowl of ramen right now." The young woman laughed. It was't shrill like most civilian girls (Then again, she never paid much attention to civilians in the first place), but instead had a comforting tone to it, much like the old man and the restaurant.

"Still, four bowls is pretty impressive. Our other customers order an average of two bowls at the most." At this bit of information, she felt her eyeballs pop out of their sockets. That meant that Naruto ate six and a half--no, _seven_ and a half more bowls than the average person. She briefly wondered if he was eating for himself _and_ the Kyuubi. A sudden image of a pregnant Naruto popped into her mind, making her smirk and shake her head. She really needed to keep her mind from wandering. "You know, you're one of the few people who come here willingly with Naruto. Usually he has to drag his friends here, and even then they barely eat one bowl, just to make him happy." She lifted a curious eyebrow at the girl.

"One of the few?" Ayame nodded and leaned forward against the counter.

"The only people who really seem to enjoy coming here with Naruto are Iruka-san and Hinata-san." Tayuya froze at the mention of another girl. Naruto had never mentioned a Hinata. Then again, the only people he ever really mentioned were his teammates, his former teachers, and the people he beat in a fight. It was very possible that the boy had a whole bunch of other friends and family that she didn't know about, like the group who came to visit him in the hospital. She watched him vigorously tear into his sixteenth bowl and sighed. Somehow, she doubted that.

"Hinata?" She asked, trying not to sound too interested. The waitress briefly smirked and nodded again.

"He's only brought her here a handful of times, but she seemed to really enjoy his company." The redhead narrowed her eyes in thought. She was pretty curious about this 'Hinata.' There must be something wrong with her if she actually _enjoyed_ spending time with him.

"She does? She doesn't talk much when I ask her stuff, so I figured she didn't really like being around me." The kunoichi jumped slightly in surprise. He was so enthralled in his ramen that she didn't think he'd actually be paying attention to the conversation. Sometime during their short talk, he had raised the total number of bowls eaten (devoured) to eighteen.

"She's just a little shy around you, Naruto-kun," Ayame said with a grin. He gave her a confused look and cocked his head to the side.

"Why?" Tayuya fought the urge to slam his head into the counter top. He_ had_ to be the densest guy on the planet. Still, the waitress just winked and walked towards the curtain leading to the back of the restaurant.

"Hm, I wonder..." She giggled lightly as the curtain closed behind her. Seeing that he wasn't going to get any answers out of her, he turned to address the only girl left in the restaurant.

"Ne, Tayuya, do you know?" She shook her head. It wasn't a total lie, as she honestly didn't _know_ why the girl was so shy around him. It was only a very plausible and likely _idea_.

"Nope. I've never met the bitch, so I couldn't tell you what her problem is." He nodded and smiled.

"You're right, you haven't met her! Maybe I should introduce you to her after you get your legs back!" A mischievous grin slowly made its way onto her face. That _was_ a great idea. She could see who this girl was, _and_ rub it in her face that she would be spending three years with the girl's crush. There was nothing she enjoyed more than stepping on the hopes and dreams of another person.

"That'd be great! I can't wait to meet her!" she exclaimed, trying her best not to sound _too_ enthusiastic. Naruto's smile widened into his trademark foxy grin. He was glad that she would be making more friends besides him, and Hinata was the perfect choice! Little did he know that what she had in mind was the exact opposite.

"Anyway, we only have twenty-five minutes left until we have to go back to the hospital. Are you ready?" She nodded, and after Naruto paid for both of their meals (Gama-chan would need a refill when he got home), she lifted her arm to be picked up. Although it was a little unnerving how quickly she had gotten used to it, she'd actually started to enjoy being picked up whenever she wanted. It kind of reminded her of when she was younger; before Naruto, before the Sound Four, even before Orochimaru. Sighing, she realized that this would probably be the last time he'd ever do this. It seemed as if he noticed this too, as he briefly hesitated before fully setting her down the chair.

"Thanks." Naruto pulled back in surprise. After the dozens of times he'd moved her to and from her wheelchair, this was the first time she had actually thanked him for it.

"Nani?" She avoided his gaze and shrugged.

"You know, for helping me out. Since this is the last time and all. I'll either have my legs back, or I'll be dead, so..." He frowned down at her.

"You'll definitely get your legs back. It's a promise of a lifetime, and I never go back on my word!" She _almost_ pointed out that the last time he'd made that promise he had failed, but decided against it. It wouldn't do to jinx herself, after all. "But, don't worry about it. I kind of liked it." When she lifted a suspicious eyebrow, he quickly corrected himself. "You know, like, hanging out with you. Guess we'll be doing a lot more of that for the next three years, huh?" Tayuya smirked up at him.

"Yeah, I guess we will." As he slowly wheeled her towards the hospital, neither one spoke for fear of ruining the pleasant atmosphere that had settled around them.

------------------------------

"Are the preparations in place?"

Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shizune all stood in the large hospital operating room. Intricate seals and symbols littered the floor, forming a winding spiral leading to a series of scrolls spread out in the center. Each roll of paper contained another set of complex symbols, looking very much like a bunch of random strokes of paint. The toad hermit wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead and nodded.

"I did most of this last night, and it doesn't take long to prepare a few scrolls to mediate chakra." The Hokage smiled.

"Thanks for doing this. I know it couldn't have been easy to research and paint so many different seals."

"Nah, it wasn't that hard. I just modified the original design of your seal and shortened the duration a bit." She raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Shortened the duration?" He slowly raised his arms to stretch.

"Yeah. Your seal draws upon the chakra that you've stored up until it runs out. Since she doesn't have the chakra stored up to maintain the jutsu, it will automatically stop when we cut off the chakra flow into her body. I've also added a function that allows her to cancel the jutsu if she ever decides to use it in the future." Tsunade pouted playfully.

"That means hers is more efficient than mine!" Jiraiya giggled.

"No, I think yours are much more _efficient_ than hers will ever be," he leered with a perverse grin. She scowled and punched him on top of the head.

"Baka-hentai." She glanced over at her apprentice standing by the doors to the operating room. "Shizune! Bring them in!"

"Hai, Tsunade-sama!" The young woman replied. She bowed slightly and slipped out of the dark room. A few minutes later, she returned with a nervous looking Naruto and Tayuya in tow. They were dressed in identical hospital gowns, although the redhead had a medical cap covering her hair to reduce the risk of something interfering with the seal. The Hokage motioned for them to bring the girl over.

"How are you feeling? Do you still want to go through with this? It's not too late to change your mind." Tayuya snorted and put on a weak smile.

"Hell no, I'm more than ready for this." The woman smiled down at the girl with a small bit of respect. It wasn't easy to accept an operation that only had around a fifty percent chance of success.

"Alright, remove your gown and we'll get started." Both genin froze.

"W-what?!" she shrieked, recoiling with surprise. Tsunade frowned.

"The gown will just get in the way of the seal. If you're worried about Naruto seeing you naked," she said with a small grin, "I'll give you a sheet to cover yourself with." Tayuya sighed and shot Naruto a glare that clearly stated, '_Peek and I'll shove a kunai up your virgin ass.'_ He gulped and quickly turned around. After Tsunade set her down in the center of the spiral, the girl easily loosened the string holding her gown together and pulled the flimsy garment off of her body. Shizune rushed over with a sheet and draped it over her more important parts.

Jiraiya tapped the boy on shoulder and pointed towards the edge of the spiral. "Alright, Naruto, take a seat and we'll get started." He nodded and plopped down in his designated position. Tsunade and Jiraiya did the same, forming a simple triangle around Tayuya. A long line of seals led from their positions to the center of the spiral where the girl lie. The man formed a few seals and looked up at Naruto and his teammate.

"Are you ready?" They too formed the same seals and nodded. He took a deep breath and slammed his hands onto the edge of the spiral simultaneously with the others. A bright flash of blue light briefly illuminated the dark room before slowly ebbing into a faint glow. The chakra visibly lit up each individual symbol painted on the ground, causing the seal to squirm and slowly slide counterclockwise towards the center. Tayuya visibly flinched from the pain, immediately worrying Naruto.

"What's wrong?" he asked, gazing over at her in concern. She turned her head to smile weakly at him.

"Nothing, just stings a little. Orochimaru's seal was way more painful." He nodded, but continued to frown. They hadn't mentioned that the sealing would be painful, although it did kind of make sense. When Orochimaru had used the Gogyou Fuuin in the Forest of Death to seal the Kyuubi's chakra, the pain had been strong enough to knock him unconscious. He also remembered the pain Sasuke seemed to feel when he unwillingly received the Heaven Seal. Naruto turned to look at his sensei.

"What's happening?"

"The seal is gradually implanting itself into her body. When we can no longer see the spiral, the process will be complete," Jiraiya informed him. His student nodded in understanding. He could feel his chakra slowly trickling away from his body, and although he knew he had more chakra than even most jounin, it wouldn't be long before he had to rely on the Kyuubi.

Thirty minutes into the sealing, Tsunade finally began to show signs of fatigue. She was fighting to keep her hands pressed together in concentration, but it was obvious that it was an uphill battle. The seal was a little over half complete, and if Jiraiya and Naruto couldn't come up with the second half of the chakra, the entire operation would fail and Tayuya could possibly die.

"Tsunade-sama, let me take your place. I don't have near as much chakra as you three, but you're almost at your limit. Any longer and you'll be putting your own life at risk." The Hokage frowned, but stood up. If she died, the entire village would be in a panic. When the older woman managed to regain her balance, Shizune settled herself down in her mentor's place and performed the seals necessary to continue the chakra transfusion. She probably wouldn't be able to last any more than fifteen minutes or so, but as far as she was concerned, every little bit helped.

Ten minutes later, Jiraiya stood up. His face was wet with perspiration, and unfortunately for Tayuya, the sealing still had a quarter of the way to go.

"Ero-sennin, are you done too?" Naruto asked, looking a little worried. He himself was nearly drained of chakra, and in another few minutes, he'd have to tap into the Kyuubi's power. The man sighed tiredly.

"Sorry, Naruto. I don't have as much chakra as I did in my prime. It looks like we'll have to rely on the nine-tailed fox after all, but try to hold out as long as you can." He walked over to the corner and leaned against the wall. He could feel his consciousness fading, but if nothing else, he wanted to stay awake long enough to see what effects the sinister chakra would have on her body. After a few minutes, Shizune leaned back onto her hands. She frowned apologetically at Naruto and Tayuya, but her reserves were nearly drained. It was now up to the blond to finish it out.

Unfortunately, he too had reached his limit. His breath was starting to come in short bursts as he fought to stay focused on holding in his prisoner's chakra. Finally, after fighting for another few minutes, he grudgingly closed his eyes and began to draw on the Kyuubi's chakra.

The effect was immediate. The room was bathed in a bright red light, and the line of seals leading from Naruto to Tayuya looked to be aflame. Suddenly, her back arched off of the ground, and her mouth opened wide in a silent scream. Instead of following the predetermined path of the spiral, the burning chakra surrounded the girl and rushed into her body.

"Shit! Naruto, you're using too much chakra!" Tsunade yelled, trying to move closer to Tayuya. Between the violent chakra and the girl's jerking movements, it was impossible to get any closer than two feet.

"I-I can't control it! It won't stop coming out!" His eyes widened when dark laughter filled his head. He wildly looked around the room for the source of the evil chuckling.

**"Have you forgotten our deal already, brat?" **Naruto blinked. He'd thought that visiting the Kyuubi was only a dream. Still, that didn't give the fox the right to hurt one of his precious people.

"What are you doing to her?! Stop it!" The Kyuubi snorted inside his head.

**"Relax, boy, I'm doing her a favor."** By now, the chakra was violently swirling around the room, forcing Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shizune to shield their faces and lifting Tayuya almost a foot off of the ground. Judging by the look of immense agony on her face, it didn't look like he was doing her much of a favor.

"A favor?! You're hurting her!"

**"Reconfiguring a human's DNA does that."**

"NANI?!" For some reason, Naruto had the distinct impression that the beast was rolling his eyes.

**"I swear, you humans have no sense of humor. Just trust me when I say that I'm helping you."** The blond narrowed his eyes suspiciously. It would be foolish to trust a demon, let alone a fox demon. Even though he was never allowed to attend story time with the other children at the orphanage, he was easily able to eavesdrop from the vents in the building's basement. There, he'd heard countless stories with foxes depicted as tricksters.

They often played cruel tricks on their targets, leading travelers astray and stealing large amounts of food from poor farmers. On the other hand, the stories also said that kitsune always keep their promises, and could become trustworthy if treated with respect. Still, that didn't make him feel any less mistrustful.

"Helping me? Why?"

**"I won't mince words; you're weak. If you're weak, then the Akatsuki will have no trouble stealing and using me for their own power-hungry ideals. Since you're going to be with the girl for three years anyway, I might as well make her a little stronger too in case you happen to run into trouble. Think of it as self-preservation; I can't have you die until I figure out a way to escape, right? Besides, you can't stop me anyway. If you try to cut off the chakra flow to her body, there's no doubt that she will die."**

As much as he hated to admit it, the fox was right. Unable to do anything else, he watched Tayuya writhe and twist in the air, wishing more than anything that he could somehow hold back the Kyuubi's power.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the swirling red chakra shot straight up into the air and forced its way into her stomach. With the burning energy out of the way, Tsunade and Shizune rushed over to check her over. The Hokage removed the sheet and gasped. While the sōzō saisei was originally meant to be placed on her forehead like Tsunade's, a larger, more intricate version now rested boldly on her abdomen.

"Jiraiya!" She yelled, motioning for him to come over. When he arrived by her side, the man let out a surprised gasp of his own.

"This is amazing! The seal looks exactly how I drew it, but another seems to have been placed over it!" He glanced over at his student. "Naruto, do you know anything about this?"

"Well," he started, trying not to look at the (naked) unconscious girl, "The baka-fox said something about making her stronger, but I don't know what he did." The black-haired medic frowned and cocked her head to the side. That didn't sound like something a purely malevolent being would do. She watched with interest as the seal receded in on itself and formed a small purple jewel directly below the girl's belly button.

"Why?" Naruto shook his head.

"I don't know, but is she okay? Did the seal work?" Sighing, Tsunade placed the sheet back over Tayuya's body and picked her up bridal style.

"The bones _feel _whole again, but it's impossible to tell if the damage has been completely repaired until she wakes up." She placed her on a nearby stretcher and instructed her apprentice to take her to an observation room. "We'll perform a few physical examinations to determine what effects the Kyuubi's seal had on her body. In the meantime, why don't you go buy her some flowers or something? I hear they help most patients recover faster." She turned her head away to hide her smirk. Naruto, of course, fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker.

"Really?! I'll go get her some right now!" He yelled, rushing out of the room. His movements were sluggish from the massive chakra exertion he'd been subjected to only a few minutes before, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. Shizune's eyes widened when the blond rushed past her and Tayuya in nothing but a hospital gown.

"Wait! Naruto-kun! Put on some pants!"


	10. Chapter 10

**Melody of the Fox **

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**AN: No, this isn't a filler.  
**

**Chapter 10**

Yamanaka Ino was bored. Utterly, incredibly, stupendously bored. Only two people had come into the flower shop so far; one being her own mother to bring her lunch, and the other being the elderly woman down the street who stopped by everyday to buy a single sunflower for her hair.

Of course, that was to be expected. It _was_ Fall, and most of their business came from the Spring and Summer months. The only time people bought flowers this time of year was to either pick up a centerpiece for their dinner tables or to send flowers to a hospitalized friend. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint), the amount of injuries also seemed to decline around this time of year.

Despite the fact that they were on less than pleasant terms since they discovered their mutual interest in Uchiha Sasuke, her best friend and rival Haruno Sakura would usually stop by for an hour or two to chat and catch up on all the latest gossip. However, since Sasuke's defection from the Leaf, the pink-haired girl had been coming around less and less. Now that she was getting training from the Hokage herself, she hadn't been coming around at all.

Sighing loudly, Ino boredly thumbed through her fashion magazine for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. At that moment, she wished that someone --_ anyone _-- would come through the door of her family's flower shop, even if it was to rob the place. At least _then_ she could enjoy kicking the thief's ass. As if Kami-sama himself had granted her wish, the bell hanging over the door chimed noisily. She immediately straightened herself up and opened her mouth to recite the store's customary greeting.

"Hi! Welcome to the Yamanaka Flowe--Oh, it's just you," the girl said, slumping her shoulders with disappointment. The customer angrily marched up to the register.

"What do you mean, 'it's just you'?! Ain't I a paying customer too?! It's no wonder this place is so dead! with you behind the counter, I'm surprised the shop is still in business!" Ino rolled her eyes and leaned forward on her elbows.

"What do you want, Naruto? No, wait, before you saying anything, I don't know where Sakura is." While she had gotten her wish, she wished that Kami-sama would have sent someone a little less...annoying.

"Huh? Oh, I didn't come here for that," he replied. She perked up a bit at his answer. The only time she ever really communicated with the boy outside of missions or group functions was when he wanted to know something about Sakura. Still, she was convinced that he was there for something involving her friend slash rival.

"Really? Then what did you come here for?" She noticed with some interest that he seemed a little hesitant answer. After a few seconds of silence, he finally looked up to meet her eyes.

"I need to buy some flowers." Ino smacked her palm into her forehead. Of course.

"Sorry, we're out of miniature cherry blossom trees for the year. Come back in Spring, if you really want one." Naruto gave her a confused look.

"What? So? I want to buy some _flowers_, Not a sakura tree. Geez, Ino, try to keep up." The girl cocked her head to the side with confusion. Didn't he know that cherry blossoms were Sakura's favorites? She wouldn't be satisfied with anything else. Unless Sasuke gave them to her, anyway.

"Aren't you buying flowers for Sakura?" She asked, her curiosity starting to get the best of her.

"No, when did I say that?" Now, she was definitely curious.

"Well then, what are you buying flowers for?" He nervously scratched the back of his head and avoided her invading gaze. She was starting to freak him out with her staring.

"They're for...a friend. Look, I just need help picking some flowers because I don't know what any of them mean, okay?" Ino's eyes widened to almost comical proportions. Naruto, the blond, Sakura-obsessed fanboy, had finally moved on?! This was the kind of gossip that girls (and a few guys) would give their right arm for! Determined to get some more information out of him, she quickly slipped around the counter and grabbed Naruto's hand, leading him towards the store's greenhouse.

Most of the plants were arranged by name and lined the walls of the greenhouse, although the more popular flowers rested right at the entrance to the medium-sized room. There were flowers of all shapes, sizes, and colors all over the place, looking very much like a miniature rain forest. She pulled him inside the transparent building and closed the door behind her.

"Alright, before we do anything, what are you planning to make?" She asked, walking towards a large table in the corner. On top of it, there were various vases, colored ribbons, and tissue paper neatly arranged by size and color. Naruto stared after her with a dumbfounded expression.

"Make?" he asked, following her over to the corner. She picked up a vase and a piece of tissue paper.

"Do you want to make a flower arrangement, or a bouquet?" He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, carefully observing each choice. After a minute or two of silence, Ino sighed exasperatedly. "Today, Naruto."

"Fine, fine. I'll take the tissue paper then."

"What color?" She asked, turning to the wide assortment of hues. As soon as the words left her mouth, she immediately regretted her decision. She quickly turned back around and waved her hands in a disarming fashion.

"No, nevermind. On second thought, _I'll_ pick a color for you." Naruto grinned widely and nodded.

"That's a good idea! You'd know best, anyway!" Ino's hand froze in mid grab. What did he mean by that? Shaking her head, she gathered up a couple of sheets of dark purple tissue paper and a long white strand of ribbon. Now, the fun began.

"So, Naruto, tell me about this person you're buying the flowers for. Is it a guy or girl?" He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He might act dumb 99.9 percent of the time, but even he could tell that she was up to something.

"Why does it matter?" The girl cursed silently. Trust this to be the one time Naruto grows a brain.

"Why does it matter?!" she repeated, feigning shock. "It's the most important thing in flower arranging! If you give a guy girly flowers, people might start questioning your sexuality. I mean, unless you really are--" Just as she expected, the boy's eyes widened and he began to vigorously shake his head in disagreement.

"N-no! No way! It's a girl, alright?!" he yelled, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks. To be honest, he didn't know why it was so embarrassing in the first place. He was just buying Tayuya some flowers to help her get better soon. While he was lost in his own thoughts, he missed the triumphant grin that appeared on Ino's face. Question a guy's sexuality, and they give up information faster than Chouji can put away a full course meal. And that was pretty damn fast.

"Great! Now we're getting somewhere! Since it's a girl, let's start with some of these." Ino picked up a few small white flowers and set them around the edges of the tissue paper, which she had placed in a bouquet holder. She then picked up some small pieces of ivy and fern to add some contrast.

"Hey, that's pretty cool! You're really good at this Ino!" She felt her face grow slightly warm at the compliment. No one outside of her own family had ever commented on her flower arranging, and even though he was a complete idiot when it came to flowers (and a lot of other things), it still managed to make her feel somewhat happy. She smirked and rolled her eyes.

"We're not even close to done yet. Before we can get to the good stuff, you have to tell me a little more about this girl. What's she like?" Naruto cast her a suspicious glare.

"Why does _that_ matter?" Expecting him to ask that question, she gave him the stupidest look she could muster.

"You really don't know? You have to pick flowers based on her personality, or the whole thing will clash and be a total failure!" Naruto frowned deeply. There was no point in buying the flowers if they didn't work! When he looked up to think, Ino secretly covered her mouth to hold in a giggle. He was so gullible, it was almost a crime.

"She's kind of loud," he started, scratching his cheek. Ino immediately began thinking of all the girls that she and Naruto knew who fit into that category. Her eyes widened when she realized that only she, Sakura, and Ami fit into that category, and none of them had seen much of Ami since their Academy days. Sakura was also out, since he'd clearly stated that he wasn't buying flowers for her earlier. That only left...

"W-what else? I can't tell a person's personality just from that," she stuttered. It wouldn't do any good to jump to conclusions, as there was a very good chance that he had friends she didn't know about; especially since they weren't really that close.

"Well, she can be really mean at times, and degrading too." Ino winced. "But, I can tell that's not how she really is. I know that she cares a lot about others, even if she tries to hide it. She's also strong-willed and independent, and doesn't take shit from anybody. I think that's what I like about her the most."

She gasped and blushed a mild crimson at his words. It was possibly the sweetest thing she'd ever heard, and what made it even more astounding was that it came from Naruto. The same boy that everyone called 'dead-last' and 'idiot' had practically defined her in a short four paragraphs. Either she was as transparent as a sheet of glass, or he was much more insightful than he let on. Still, just to be completely sure...

"What do you think about her looks?" she asked, trying her damnedest not to blush.

"Hey! I thought you said flowers were picked based on personality?!"

"Uh, they are! But...uhm, the color of the flower is picked based on her looks?" she finished lamely. Damnit. There was no way he was going to fall for that one. He rubbed his chin in thought, slowly nodding his head as if understanding what she was talking about.

"Oh, I get it!" he exclaimed, slamming his fist into his palm. Ino stared at him with disbelief. Just when she was starting to think that he might have some sort of brain in that big blond head of his, too. She quickly regrouped and rested her hands on her hips impatiently.

"Well? I don't have all day." Naruto almost said something snide about the lack of customers he'd seen when he arrived, but decided against it this time. She _was_ helping him out, after all.

"Okay, okay, hold your horses," he sighed, assuming a thinking pose. A few seconds later, he smiled in an 'A-ha!' fashion.

"I don't care as much about her looks, but she's definitely in the top ten of Konoha right now." Ino gasped. While she would prefer to be considered as number one in Konoha, she realized that he was trying to be as honest as possible in his description. It was hard to place her at the top when there was the Hokage and Kurenai to contend with. "She glares at me a lot more than she smiles, but when she does smile, it's almost like she's a whole different person." By now, her face was practically the color of a tomato. She turned around and walked further into the nursery to hide her blush. "Ne, Ino, where are you going?" Naruto asked, starting to follow. Without looking back, she held out her hand to stop his advance.

"J-just stay there, Naruto. I know exactly what she would want," she stuttered, tucking a persistent strand of hair behind her ear. His eyes lit up, and he nodded his agreement. This was going to be a whole lot easier than he thought.

"Really? Thanks! I knew you were the right person to go to!" She smiled softly to herself as she cut a few light red carnations away from the bush. That particular color represented admiration, and she knew without a doubt that admiration was one of the things he felt based on the fondness in his tone when he spoke of her.

She continued on down the aisle, plucking various flowers from their stands. She picked flowers that represented love, hope, and adoration, while at the same trying to keep the bouquet within the boy's price range. Judging on his choice of attire and unhealthy obsession with ramen, he couldn't possibly have enough money to afford more than a dozen or so roses.

While picking the flowers, she tried to make sense of her own feelings. For some strange reason, she could actually see him as a friend, and maybe even a potential boyfriend. They both had blond hair and blue eyes, strong personalities, and he was always happy and supportive of his friends no matter what the circumstances.

Of course, she'd have to change his wardrobe and eating habits, and maybe buy him a dictionary or two to expand his vocabulary if he wanted to date her, but that was something she could work on in time. Ino giggled to herself at how quickly her mind had accepted Naruto.

She'd never thought much of him before today, as he was always considered the prankster, dead-last, and idiot of the Rookie Nine. Now that she thought about it, however, he was actually one of the strongest among them! In the chuunin exams, he'd managed to beat Inuzuka Kiba in the preliminary rounds. His method was a bit...unconventional, but it had worked

He'd then gone on to beat Hyuuga Neji, last year's rookie of the year, in the third round. She had been more than surprised when that had happened. How a fresh out of the Academy, dead-last idiot managed to beat a Hyuuga genius with over thirteen months of field experience was beyond her.

Not only had he beaten some of the best genin Konoha had to offer, she'd also heard from Temari that he beat Gaara of the Sand. Sakura had at first said that Sasuke defeated him, but eventually admitted to being unconscious for the majority of the fight. Seeing as how Temari was actually awake and watching at the time, she'd been forced to believe the older Sand nin.

Initially, she'd been shocked. For a few weeks after the incident, she'd believed that Sasuke had done most of the work, and that Naruto simply came in for finishing blow. As time wore on, however, she had grudgingly begin to realize that the loudmouth genin was a lot stronger than he let on.

Not even a week after his confrontation with Gaara, she heard from Shikamaru that Naruto had gone on a trip with Jiraiya, _one of the legendary sannin_, to find the next Hokage--_another_ one of the legendary sannin! Once again, her world had been turned upside down. Just _how _did Naruto know one of the legendary three, and _why_ was he allowed to accompany the man on his journey? There were so many questions surrounding the boy, yet she knew none of the answers.

Ino bit her lip. Just who _was _Uzumaki Naruto? She'd have to pay a visit to Sakura sometime next week.

She stopped in front of the large section of tulips, looking them over with a critical eye. They were a favorite among customers, as they weren't too romantic, too elegant, too bright, too big, or too small. They were simply perfect. She picked a few red tulips to complement the carnations she'd picked up earlier, and a few yellow ones to brighten up the arrangement. Yellow tended to mean cheerful thoughts and happiness, something that she thought fit the both of them.

Ino snuck a peek at Naruto out of the corner of her eye. It didn't look like he had moved an inch from where she had left him, although sometime during her reverie he had unzipped his heavy orange jacket, revealing a tight black t-shirt underneath. His head band was tied around his neck for the time being, and she noticed with a small blush that he actually looked sort of cool with his bangs falling into his eyes. She vigorously shook her head, trying her hardest to get those thoughts out of his head.

What the hell was she thinking? This was Naruto she was talking about! The dead-last in the Academy! The ramen freak! _Sakura's self-proclaimed fanboy_! Just because he had shown a little interest in her, she was acting like a civilian schoolgirl with a crush. It didn't make sense! Plenty of guys had approached her over the years, promising her love, fortune, and a life of comfort. So why was Naruto any different?

Maybe it was different _because_ it was Naruto. Maybe it was because the boy who had previously shown interest in Sakura now had a crush on her. In a way, she was stealing his affection from her rival, proving once and for all who was better. That had to be it!

Or...maybe it's because he was Sasuke's best friend, making Naruto the closest link she has to the missing Uchiha. Or maybe...

Ino shook her head again. These thoughts weren't getting her anywhere!

"Ah...Ino? Are you okay?" the blond asked, eyeing her with unhidden concern. She jumped slightly and turned back to the tulips in front of her.

"Um, sure!" She laughed nervously and tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear. "Hey, Naruto-kun, can you come over here for a second? I need you to pick the main flower for the bouquet." He lifted an eyebrow at the addition of -kun to his name, but walked over to stand next to her.

"Shouldn't you do this? I don't really know anything about flowers." She shook her head and smiled.

"I can't. This is your arrangement, so you have to pick the flower that most represents what you feel about the person you're giving it to." At his confused expression, she hung her head and sighed. "On second thought, just pick whatever you think would look nice." His face immediately lit up. That, he could do.

Ino watched with mild amusement as he raced up and down the aisles of the greenhouse, stopping for no more than one or two seconds at each group of flowers. Finally, after a few minutes of searching, Naruto appeared from around the corner with a single lavender rose.

"This one!" he yelled, holding it up in the air. The girl smiled and plucked the flower from his fingertips. Even though he probably didn't know it, lavender roses usually meant things like love at first sight or enchantment. After placing the flower directly in the center of the bouquet, she tucked the same strand of hair behind her ear and turned to show him the completed arrangement.

"What do you think? Beautiful, right?" He grinned foxily, fully exposing his unnaturally sharp canines.

"Yep! Next time I need to buy flowers, I'm definitely coming to see you!" Ino blushed slightly and turned to walk back into the store. Just as they entered the main building, Naruto suddenly stopped and ran back into the greenhouse. "Ne, Ino, hold on a minute!" he called from among the flowers. She rested an impatient hand on her hip as she waited for him to reappear, curious as to what he was doing.

"Naruto-kun? What are you doing?" As soon as the words left her mouth, the genin in question rounded the nearest shelf with a single white wildflower in his hand. He grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

"I just wanted to buy one of these, too." She raised her eyebrows at the flower, but shrugged and ushered him into the store. After walking behind the counter, she quickly rang up his order.

"Counting the wildflower, that'll be 1,850 yen." The boy's jaw dropped in surprise, causing her to frown and narrow her eyes. "What, you can't afford it?"

"N-no! It's just that the flower shop down the street is five times as expensive as this place!" Ino blinked in surprise. The last time she'd checked, their prices were nearly the same. He quickly shuffled through his pockets and produced a few bills, placing them in the girl's outstretched hand.

"Here you go! You can keep the change as a tip!" Ino blinked again. Since when did Naruto have enough money to give her a--she quickly glanced over the bills in her hand--500 yen tip?!

"Uh...thanks, here are your flowers," she murmured, still a bit awestruck. Maybe she'd underestimated the boy. Still, there was something that bothered her about this whole situation. "Hey, Naruto-kun?" When he looked up to stare at her, she continued. "Instead of going through the trouble of buying flowers, why didn't you just tell me how you felt?" The blond tilted his head in the typical Naruto fashion.

"How I feel about what?" he asked, obviously confused. She furrowed her brows and leaned forward to stare into his eyes. He wasn't getting away that easily.

"About _me_, idiot!" Now, he was really confused. He cocked a curious eyebrow at her annoyed expression.

"What about you?" Ino's eyebrow twitched. Either he was really good at playing dumb, or she'd made a horrible mistake in her assumptions. Unfortunately for him, she wasn't quite ready to admit that she was wrong. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she slowly walked from behind the counter to stand directly in front of Naruto. She placed both of her hands on his shoulders and looked him squarely in the eyes.

"Naruto," she started, her expression deathly serious, "How do you feel about me?" Naruto shifted uncomfortably under her intense gaze. Her piercing sky blue eyes showed visions of death and castration if he didn't answer her question correctly. Deciding to tread lightly, he gulped loudly and shifted his eyes away from her.

"Uh, w-well, I-I think you're really smart and stuff and know a lot about flowers," he stuttered, trying to gauge her reaction. When her eyes narrowed, he quickly continued. "And um, you're pretty?" the girl's mouth twitched upward, causing him to let loose a small breath of relief. Maybe he could get out of this unscathed after all. "And you're really nice for helping me pick these flowers for Tayuya!" Her hands clenched painfully on his jacket clad shoulders.

"Say that again?" she ground out, her stare turning into a glare. Naruto thanked the gods that he had used the bathroom before he left the hospital.

"Y-you're really nice for helping me pick these flowers for Tayuya. I think they'll help her get better in no time!" Ino slowly let go of his shoulders and took a few steps back.

"Oh. I see." While she was cool and composed on the outside, her insides were in turmoil. How could she have been so stupid as to assume that he would actually have a crush on her? They'd barely spoken in the six years that they've known each other, and he'd certainly never shown an interest in anyone except for Sakura. But...just who was this Tayuya girl he was buying flowers for?

Frowning deeply, she slowly trudged back behind the counter and plopped down on the stool, leaning her chin on the palm of her hand. What the hell was she thinking? Naruto as her boyfriend? Ha! They would never work! She was a girl that demanded a certain amount of attention, and knowing his love for ramen and training, there was no possible way that he could give it to her! Ino thrust a persistent strand of light blond hair behind her ear and nodded triumphantly to herself.

He could never give her what she needed! He knew nothing about romance, and his fashion sense was simply atrocious! It would be better if she just admitted to herself that she'd let her boredom get the best of her, and forget that this whole entire thing ever happened. Suddenly, she felt something insert itself over her left ear. She blinked to see Naruto moving his hand away with a smile.

"There! Now that piece of hair won't bother you anymore!" He exclaimed. He took a few steps back to admire his handiwork, putting on a serious face for effect. After nodding to himself a few times, he smiled and gave her a thumb ups. "Wildflowers really suit you, Ino-chan!"

Ino's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. She lifted her hand to feel the soft, willowy petals of the flower he had gone back to get only five minutes earlier. While the thumbs up had been extremely corny (Really, who the hell did that anymore?), his comment caused a light pink blush to appear on her face. She smiled bashfully and tried futilely to bring down the color in her cheeks.

"Um...thanks," Ino murmured. His smile widened into his trademark foxy grin, and with a small wave, he exited the store.

"Later, Ino-chan!" For five minutes after he had gone, she stared at the clear glass door of the shop, unable to believe what had just happened. Not only had he done something extremely sweet and out of character, but he'd also managed to pick her all-time favorite flower! Sighing loudly to herself, she allowed her head to thump painfully against the countertop.

Screw next week, she was going to pay a visit to Sakura _tomorrow_.

----------------------------

There were many words that could be used to describe Orochimaru; Evil, sinister, cruel, deceiving, snake-like. Hell, even sexy (In a sick, abnormally twisted sort of way).

Patient was not one of them.

"Damnit, Kabuto! Where are those two! They should've been back yesterday!" Orochimaru yelled, his voice echoing in the large, dark throne room. Countless snakes slithered among the rafters, and human skulls lined the thick stone walls. The young man pushed his glasses further up on his nose before answering.

"Yoroi was spotted at the border to the Fire Country last night. Misumi was not with him." The sannin hissed with annoyance. He thought the mission had been simple enough, but apparently, he'd thought wrong. Why was everyone in his village so incompetent?!

"Where is he now?" he asked, displeasure clear on his face. At that moment, the doors to the chamber slowly opened to reveal a Sound ANBU officer.

"Otokage-sama," he started, bowing low to the ground. "Akado Yoroi is here to see you. Shall I send him in?" The sannin's face visibly lit up, sending a small shudder through the ANBU officer. A smiling Orochimaru was never a good thing. After receiving a nod of confirmation from his leader, the shinobi quickly backed out of the room, only to be replaced by a thin, cowering man. He looked like he hadn't eaten in days, and dark rings were prevalent beneath his eyes.

"What took you so long?" the snake spat, staring down at the man with obvious disdain. The man quickly fell to his knees and placed his forehead against the ground.

"Please excuse me, Orochimaru-sama, we--I, ran into some trouble on the way here." Relief flooded the man as the Otokage frowned but nodded his acceptance. It was difficult for even a jounin level shinobi to cross the Fire Country's border undetected.

"Did you complete your mission? And where is Misumi?" Yoroi froze and slowly lifted his head to look at the spot where he believed his leader to be.

"I...I don't know." The room was deathly silent for a few seconds.

"YOU DON'T KNOW?!" the sannin yelled. The man was visibly shaking, and unconsciously began to scoot backwards towards the entrance to the throne room. Visions of his life began to pass before his eyes as he realized what was about to happen next.

"W-well, Misumi insisted t-that he be allowed to do the job on his own, a-and the girl was crippled from the waist down and there was just a blond kid with h--"

"A blond kid?" Orochimaru asked, cutting him off. Yoroi nodded from his position on the ground.

"Y-yes, but he didn't seem like much of a threat. I believe Misumi said that he was going to kill him too, just in case." The room once again became silent as the sannin and his second in command processed this information. There were hardly any blond shinobi that Kabuto knew of in Konoha except for the Kyuubi container and those of the Yamanaka clan. It was possible the kid was a civilian, but it was highly improbable.

"Orochimaru-sama, could that blond kid be Naruto-kun?" Kabuto whispered from Orochimaru's right side. The sannin remained quiet in thought for a few seconds before lifting his head to address his subordinate.

"What did you discover when you returned to check on your partner?" Realizing that he wasn't going to die right away, the man sat back on his haunches to think.

"Well, there was no one there, but the ground was ripped up in a few places and a few trees had been broken in half. The area was also heavily guarded by a team of ANBU, so I couldn't get any closer to look for details."

"Interesting..." the Otokage hissed, narrowing his eyes in thought. "I suppose I can try to sense her presence to see if she's alive or not. For your sake, you had better hope that Misumi completed his mission." Orochimaru closed his eyes to concentrate.

It was a simple task to sense the presence of those he had given the cursed seal to, and he could easily find any of them no matter where they were. Yoroi was waiting nervously for the results, hoping against hope that his friend and partner had somehow managed to finish the girl off. A few minutes later, the sannin opened his eyes and smiled. "It seems like you're allowed to live for the time being."

The man's head snapped up with surprise. He had been completely sure that he was going to die at his master's hands.

"Orochimaru-sama?"

"Perhaps he managed to kill Tayuya first before being killed by the blond. No matter, as long as the mission is complete. Leave me." Yoroi wasted no time in getting the hell out of there, and Kabuto noticed with some amusement that he had a large wet spot on the back of his pants.

"Are you worried about Naruto-kun?" he asked in that infuriatingly smug tone of his. The sannin chuckled evily and shook his head.

"Why should I be? If he couldn't even stop that weakling Misumi from killing Tayuya, what kind of threat would he be to me?" The silver-haired medic-nin nodded his agreement.

"Imagine if he and the girl had become friends. Then he'd have two reasons to seek you out." Orochimaru's maniacal grin widened.

"Let him come. If I kill the Kyuubi, the Akatsuki won't be able to succeed in their plans to use the nine bijuu."

"Are you sure that's wise? They'll come looking for you to extract their revenge."

"Ah, but by then, I'll have the Sharingan. Once I eradicate the Akatsuki, nothing will be able to stop me!" His cackling echoed throughout the room, causing Kabuto to crack a small scheming grin of his own.

If only he knew.

----------------------------

'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. There are seven birds,' Hyuuga Neji counted to himself. Things had been extremely quiet ever since he'd flown off the handle a few days earlier. Besides the daily visit from Gai, Lee, and Tenten, no one else had bothered to stop by for fear of extracting the Hyuuga wrath upon themselves, which suited the stoic boy just fine. Everyone else was just an annoyance anyway.

So it came as no surprise that Neji's eyebrows shot up into his forehead when the door to his hospital room slowly opened to reveal a small girl standing in the doorway.

"Hanabi-sama?!" he yelped, shock visible on his face. The girl stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.

"Nii-san," she said, nodding her head in his direction. He slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position to address his younger cousin.

"Is there something wrong, Hanabi-sama?" His face scrunched up with slight worry, a fact which many clan members would find amusing had they seen it. It was no secret to anyone that the genin used to despise the Main family, although he'd recently been making an effort to be much more civil and kind towards his cousins. Hanabi slowly shook her head and raised it to look him in the eyes.

"No, nothing's wrong. At least, it's nothing serious. I think." Neji lifted a confused eyebrow. He'd never seen his cousin act so confused about something. Truly, whatever was bothering her must be serious. He attempted to smile comfortingly, although it came out as more of a painful grimace.

"Why don't you tell me what's bothering you, and I will do my best to help you if I can." She slowly nodded again and moved to stand at the foot of his bed.

"It's about nee-san," the girl started, her face completely devoid of emotion.

"Hinata-sama?" The genin was honestly surprised that she was coming to him about her sister. Usually she only wanted to ask for tips or advice about the Jyuuken style, never about anything personal.

"Hai. I saw her...touching herself," she explained, scrunching up her face in mild confusion. "When I asked her about it, she refused to explain, and I don't think it's something that I should bother Otou-sama with." The elder Hyuuga's jaw dropped, and his usually fierce eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Hinata?! The shy, sweet, peace-loving little girl he'd known for years? Impossible. Neji put on an amused smirk. His youngest cousin was obviously mistaken.

"Hanabi-sama, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. Perhaps you only _think_ you saw it?" Hanabi shook her head.

"No, she was standing in front of her mirror naked doing things like this." The girl lifted her hands to her admittedly flat chest and began to move them in a circular fashion, attempting to emulate what she'd seen her older sister do a few days before. Neji's face turned a deep shade of scarlet, and he quickly turned his eyes away from his cousin molesting herself.

"H-Hanabi-sama! Such actions are well below the standards of the Hyuuga!" he stuttered. She shrugged and moved her hands away from her chest.

"Well, I kind of figured that, but I just wanted to know what it does. Does it help your chest to grow bigger? I think it does, because nee-san's chest is this big," she started, demonstrating her elder sister's size with her hands, "And everyone else in the clan is only around this big." By now, blood was threatening to spew out of his nose like a running faucet, and with his last bit of consciousness, he slammed his head back down to the bed and closed his eyes.

"Find Tenten and have her explain it to you. She'd know better than I would." Hanabi's face lit up.

"You're right. Arigatou, nii-san." As soon as he heard the door click shut, he slowly released the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding and pulled his pillow over his face. Fuck what Naruto said.

Fate got great pleasure out of bending him over and raping him up the ass with the metal-spiked strap-on of destiny. He sighed and glanced out of the window again to calm his nerves.

'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, ...eight. Goddammit.'


	11. Chapter 11

**Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 11**

Sunlight streamed into the small, plain hospital room, jovially announcing the start of another day. Birds chirped merrily from their perches among the tree branches while shinobi and civilians alike began their morning routines. A particularly persistent beam of light landed squarely on Tayuya's sleeping face, rousing the girl from her well deserved slumber and enticing a groan of agony from her throat. She attempted to open her eyes, but found with some annoyance that her eyelids were stuck together from nearly twenty four hours of misuse. She reached her hands up to her eyelids and forcefully pried them open. That was a mistake.

"AGH! FUCK!" she yelled, slamming her palms over her highly sensitive eyes. Apparently she wasn't quite used to the light yet, and a direct shot from the sun didn't help the matter. After waiting a couple of minutes for them to adjust, she slowly opened her eyes again and smiled. It seemed like she'd survived the sealing.

She pushed herself up into a sitting position and looked out of the large hospital room window. Everything looked so much more vivid and colorful than she remembered, and she noticed with some interest that she could see every individual leaf on the trees standing proudly across the street. That regeneration seal was much more effective than she'd thought it would be.

Yawning crudely, Tayuya stretched her arms high above her head and reveled in the satisfying 'pop' of her bones realigning themselves. At the peak of her stretch, she froze. She slowly turned her head to see that her right arm was indeed completely healthy again, and with an aggressive fervor commonly seen in rabid animals, she threw the sheets off her bed to look at her legs. The long scars and gashes from her fight with Temari were long gone, and to her surprise, so were all of the abrasions she'd received during her career as a shinobi.

She sucked in a large breath of air and stared hopefully at her legs. This one moment would determine the course of the rest of her life; either she would accompany Naruto on his three year training trip around the Eastern world and become a powerful kunoichi of the Leaf, or she'd be confined to Konoha while her only acquaintance grew stronger without her. As if sensing her apprehension, the sun temporarily hid itself behind a large white cloud, and the birds quickly ceased their birdsongs to fly away and sing their morning tunes elsewhere.

She let loose the breath she'd been holding and set her mouth into a firm line. With her eyes narrowed in concentration, she sent the subtle mental command for her legs to move. To her obvious relief, both legs levitated approximately three inches above the bed. Her frown turned into a grin, and soon, her smile was threatening to split her face in half.

"Yes!" she screamed, swinging her legs over the edge of the mattress, "Yes, yes, yes, yes!" She hopped off of the bed and stood on wobbly legs. "Fuck yes! I can fucking walk! I can fuckin-"

With a dull thud, Tayuya landed flat on her face.

"BWAHAHAHAHA!" Naruto doubled over with laughter, holding his stomach to keep his intestines from falling out through his belly button. He'd been quietly observing her actions from the other bed in the hospital room -- that is, until she fell. The girl groaned in pain and turned her head to scowl up at the laughing boy.

"Stop laughing!" she screeched, her face turning bright red with embarrassment and anger. Unfortunately, her words had the opposite effect. Instead of slowing down his laughter, he only laughed harder and was soon fighting desperately for air.

"Yeah...right! What...can _you_...do from...down _there_?" he gasped out between breaths, a wide grin still stretched over his face.

She snarled and narrowed her eyes. Having had enough of his joking, she rolled herself over onto her back and held up a hand.

"Shut the fuck up and help me!" Naruto took a few deep, calming breaths before nodding and making his way over to the redhead, still chuckling softly to himself. When he got close enough to pick her up, Tayuya quickly chopped him in the back of the knees, causing him to tumble clumsily towards the ground. Before he could catch himself on the cold tile floor, she grabbed his collar and pulled him directly on top of her. "You were saying, dipshit?"

"H-hey! No fair! You tricked me!" He fought to get out of her grip, but found that the angry looking girl was a hell of a lot stronger than she looked. They struggled viciously for a few minutes, pulling and tugging at each other to get the upper hand. Eventually, skill and experience beat brute strength and Tayuya ended up straddling the boy with a triumphant grin.

"Ha! Now that I have _two_ arms, you don't stand a fucking chance against someone like me! What now, motherfucker?!" she taunted, shaking his collar for good measure. Naruto turned his head away and sniffed indignantly.

"Just get off of me already!" She smirked and shook her head, flinging her long red hair around her face.

"Not until you say that you give up."

"No way! I never give up! That's my way of the ninja!" he yelled, staring up at her with unbridled determination. The girl shrugged nonchalantly, completely brushing off his outburst.

"Fine, but I'm not moving until you say it."

"I'm not saying it!"

"Then don't."

"I won't!"

"Fine."

"Fine!"

They sat there for a few more minutes in silence, Tayuya staring boredly into his eyes while he stared back with courageous vigor. Finally, Naruto lowered his eyes and sighed.

"If I say it, will you really let me up?" She grinned and nodded.

"I promise." With another sigh, the boy rolled his eyes and looked up at her with an obviously insincere expression.

"I give up. Happy? Now let me go!" Her smile widened and she moved to get up--unfortunately, she'd forgotten that her legs weren't exactly working. She managed to get a few inches off of his stomach before she ungracefully plopped back down, thoroughly knocking the wind out of her teammate.

"Oof! What're you doing? Get off!" Tayuya furrowed her brows and shot him a quick glare.

"I'm trying, idiot!" She attempted to lift herself off of him again, but only managed to achieve the same results. Naruto scowled and lifted his hands to help her. It was painfully easy to see that she wasn't going to make it on her own steam. The redhead swatted his hands away from her waist with a frown. "Don't help me, I can do it on my own!" She again tried to stand, but only improved her previous record by another inch.

"No you can't! Let me help!"

"No!"

"Yes! Here, just let me--"

"I said to let me do it!"

"But you can't!"

"Yes I can!"

"You're hurting me!"

"Are all you Konoha ninja this fucking whiny?"

"I can't help it, it hurts!"

"Just hold on a little longer, I can do it!"

"No you can't! Just let me give you a little push!"

"I don't need your help, dammit! I'm almost there!"

"What about me? You're gonna kill me before that happens!"

"Kami, suck it up already!"

"It's too much!"

"Oh my!" Both teens snapped their heads around to see Shizune staring wide-eyed from the doorway. Her knuckles were white from her tight grip on the doorknob, and a bright red blush accented her cheeks. It was hard not to be embarrassed by a previously crippled girl bouncing roughly on top of the boy she thought of as her little brother, after all. Her mentor walked up behind her and peered curiously into the room from over her shoulder.

"What's wrong? Is she--" The Hokage stopped in the middle of her sentence, her jaw practically scraping the cold white tiles at her feet. In front of her were two panting, red faced teenagers lying on the floor in an incredibly compromising position. Suddenly, all of the screams and yells she'd heard coming from the room made perfect sense. She slowly picked her jaw up off of the ground and regarded them with a calm expression. "Wow, brat. I didn't think you'd nail her that fast."

They stared at her confusedly for a few seconds before exchanging puzzled expressions of their own. Being the faster of the two, Tayuya was the first to realize what the woman was trying to imply. Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and she opened her mouth to protest, stumbling over her words in the process.

"I...no! We weren't...that!" she yelled, failing to form a complete sentence. Tsunade smirked and looked over at Naruto with a mischievous glint in her eye.

"Trying to get another peek, eh, Naruto?" An eerie silence filled the room as both genin stiffened at her question. A violent aura rose up from the girl in nearly visible waves of energy, scaring Naruto shitless and sending the birds singing merrily across the street into cardiac arrest. She mechanically turned her head to look at the cowering boy beneath her, a deep blush spreading over her cheeks despite her anger.

"_Another_ peek? Naruto..." she started, her teeth grinding together with anger, "What the fuck did I say I would do to you if you peeked?" The blond grinned nervously and tried to ease his way out from under her, only to be grabbed by the collar and shoved roughly back against the floor. She reached for the weapons pouch on his right leg and grabbed a kunai before holding it high above her head with both hands. Realizing what she was planning to do, he quickly raised his hands in a disarming fashion, hoping to calm the demonic redhead down before she impaled him with his own weapon.

"W-wait!" he gulped, cringing expectantly. Tayuya snarled and raised the knife higher. No amount of begging and pleading could save him now. Ironically, he was hardly the first guy to have seen her naked since she'd joined Orochimaru.

Her teammates had seen her naked on many occasions both on and off of missions, though they usually only commented on how short and pudgy she looked without any clothes on. Anyone else who happened to see her were promptly thrust into an A-ranked level genjutsu while being devoured by her summoned zombies. Though her mind vehemently denied it, she knew exactly why she didn't want Naruto to see her naked. Pushing those thoughts aside for the time being, she narrowed her eyes even further and clenched the kunai tighter in her hands.

"You brought this on yourself, hentai!" she brought the knife down at a blinding speed, watching angrily as Naruto tightly squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself for immense agony. Just as she was about to stab him between his (beautiful, cerulean blue) eyes, her hands suddenly swerved to the right, leaving a shallow cut on his whiskered check and embedding the weapon into the floor. "Goddammit, you're _so_ fucking lucky you saved my life. If you were anyone else, and I mean _anyone_--Fuck! I just want to...urgh!" she screamed, fighting to keep her twitching hands away from the blond's neck. At this point, it had become painfully clear to the other shinobi in the room that this girl was _very _mentally unstable.

Naruto slowly opened one of his eyes to stare up at the fuming girl. It was obvious that her emotions were conflicted, and he watched with mild interest (and fear) as her face cycled between anger, agony, sadness, and another expression he'd never seen before. But mostly anger. Shizune stood behind the girl with a relieved expression on her face, holding a steadying hand over her heart. The Hokage just rolled her eyes and stepped into the room, closing and locking the door behind her.

"If you two are done with your little lover's spat," she drawled, resting a lazy hand on her hip, "I'd really like to get this briefing over with." Tayuya's scowl deepened, and with a little help from Shizune, she got off of the boy and plopped down on her own bed. The boy wasted no time in scrambling to his feet and hiding behind the only other blond in the room. She sighed and rolled her eyes again. Kids this young definitely shouldn't be shinobi. Shooting her surrogate little brother a withering glare, she easily flung him out from behind her and towards his own bed, which he landed harshly on with a loud grunt.

"Hey!" he yelled, pushing himself up into a half lying, half sitting position. "Aren't nurses supposed to be gentle with their patients?!" Tsunade frowned and shook her fist at Naruto.

"Shut up, brat! Or do you not want to hear what you'll be doing for the next few days before you leave?" It was agonizingly difficult to keep a knowing smirk from spreading across her face. If you wanted Naruto to do something, all you had to do was dangle either a mission, new jutsu, or a piece of wanted information over his head. Predictably, the genin immediately shut up and sat up straight on the small hospital bed. A small twitch of her lips was the only sign she gave to show that she was pleased.

"That's what I thought. Now, Tayuya." The pouting girl lifted her eyes to look at the deceivingly young woman. "You're probably wondering why you can't use your legs as well as you used to." When the genin nodded, Tsunade continued. "Although the Sozo Saisei healed the muscles, bones, and ligaments in your legs, your muscles are still weak from the massive cellular multiplication needed to perform the jutsu. That, combined with the fact that you haven't walked in nearly two weeks, means you'll be confined to a pair of crutches until you gain your strength back. It should only take a couple of days, provided that you perform a few simple stretches everyday and get a plentiful amount of rest every night. You'll be walking in no time." Tayuya slowly nodded her head, not daring to give away her excitement. If there was one thing that she'd learned in life, it was that karma was a bitch.

"How long until I can move like a shinobi?" The woman frowned thoughtfully.

"I suppose that depends on you. Your legs are fully healed, so it's up to you to get them back in shape." The girl nodded again, this time allowing a small smile to inconspicuously slide onto her face. Getting herself back into shape would be a snap. "On that note, Jiraiya wants to leave early on Friday morning. That gives you three days to get yourselves packed, say your goodbyes, and do whatever the hell else you need to before you have to leave. You're going to be gone for three years; make the most of your time here." Tayuya snorted rudely, but chose not to comment. The woman had to have been talking to Naruto since she didn't particularly care for anyone in the village at all, nor did she have much of anything to pack. Tsunade glanced up at the clock and smirked. "By the way, you might want to get a move on."

"What? Why?" Naruto asked, cocking his head to the side.

"You have a mission, remember? Or did you forget? It was originally supposed to end this Friday, but since you need that time to prepare yourselves, today will be your last day. From what I hear, those kids have been mighty anxious for you to come back; something about a story?" Both genin raised their eyebrows. The fact that a bunch of kids they'd barely known for two days wanted them to come back was nothing short of astounding. Still, it was a little flattering to be wanted so badly.

The Hokage motioned for Shizune to follow her out of the room, in which the younger woman quickly obliged. Just as she opened the door, Tsunade suddenly stopped and glanced over her shoulder.

"By the way, as of twelve o'clock this afternoon, both of you are officially discharged from the hospital." Tayuya frowned curiously.

"Where the fuck am I supposed to stay until we leave?" The large grin that suddenly sprouted upon the Hokage's face told her everything she needed to know. "N-no, _hell_ no, you don't mean-!"

"That's right! There's no sense in wasting money on a hotel for only three nights, so you'll be staying with Naruto until this weekend! Have fun!" And with that, she disappeared through the doorway. Shizune, on the other hand, at least had the decency to shoot them an apologetic smile before slowly slipping out of the room and closing the door behind her.

For a good five minutes, neither of them moved. The two of them were still staring disbelievingly at the closed door, eyes wide and mouths open wide enough for two boss-level summons to fit inside. As if on cue, they simultaneously turned their heads to stare blankly at each other.

"We...we should leave soon," he mumbled, his voice barely above a whisper. She noticed that his face was slightly paler than usual, and that small beads of sweat were beginning to pop up on his forehead. Still, she meekly nodded her head. "You, uh, want me to get your clothes?" She nodded again, and with a speed easily comparable to a snail, Naruto rose from the bed and drifted over to the cupboards on the other side of the room. After grabbing all of the garments folded neatly on the bottom shelf (A dark blue long sleeve shirts, a pair of black ninja pants, and a pair of ninja sandals), he stiffly handed her the items and walked out of the room.

It was going to be a long three days.

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"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune called, racing after her mentor. They'd just left the hospital room of Naruto and Tayuya, and were currently on their way back to the Hokage's office. The older woman slowed down her pace to allow her to catch up.

"What is it?" she asked as they walked out of the hospital.

"Why didn't you tell her about You-know-who's changes to the seal?" Tsunade shrugged.

"I can tell her later. Besides, don't you think it'd be more fun if she was able find out about the changes herself?" she said, grinning conspiratorially at her assistant. Shizune frowned and shook her head.

"But don't you think that's a little irresponsible? What if there's a problem?" The Hokage waved her hand dismissively as they entered the Hokage Tower. Thankfully, it was very close to the hospital, allowing her to go from place to place in seconds if she so chose to.

"You worry too much. Even if something did happen, the brat never leaves her side. She'll be fine." Her frown deepening, Shizune crossed her arms and stopped at the foot of the stairs leading to the Hokage's office.

"This isn't your way of getting revenge on her for calling you a decrepit old hag, is it?" The small jump of Tsunade's shoulders gave away her surprise at being discovered so easily.

"Geez, what is this, twenty questions?! Don't you have to take Tonton for a walk or something?" The black-haired woman sighed in disappointment. She could be so immature sometimes.

"Tsunade-sama, not only are you the head doctor of the hospital, but you're the Hokage of the Leaf Village! Don't you think you should be a little more considerate towards the feelings of your patient and subordinate? I can't believe that you're withholding information from Tayuya just because she insulted something as superficial as your age. I'm very disappointed in you!"

She stamped her foot to emphasize her point, looking very childish herself. Tsunade simply stood at the top of the stairs, not bothering to answer nor give any signal that she'd heard the lecture. Shizune's frown deepened, and she quickly walked up the stairs towards her mentor. She reached her hand out to tap the woman on the shoulder.

"Tsunade-sama? Did you hear--" Amazingly, her hand went straight through the woman's chest. Immediately after, the Hokage slowly dissipated into nothing. Shizune cursed under her breath. Bunshin no Jutsu, one of the simplest ninjutsu known to the shinobi world, and she'd fallen for it. Just as she was about to scale the rest of the stairs to give her mentor a piece of her mind, her frown suddenly turned into a mischievous smile.

It was obvious that words alone wouldn't help the blond understand what she was trying to say, so she was going to have to scold her through actions.

Chuckling evily, she crept back down the steps and out of the building. This was going to fun.

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Tayuya sighed as she straightened the dark blue shirt resting loosely over her torso. Less than half an hour into the day and she was already stressed out beyond belief. She was certain that karma was collecting on its long overdue rent; or perhaps things like this only happened when Naruto was around.

A shallow blush appeared on her face as she thought about the blond idiot. She was still pretty pissed off that he'd peeped on her while she was naked, unconscious, and probably lying spread eagle on the floor of the operating room. Growling lowly, she easily tugged the dark pants up her legs and buttoned them at the top. Yes, he would pay. She would make sure of that.

After grabbing and securing her ninja sandals, she reached for the small mirror and brush sitting on the small table next to her bed. To her surprise, they were right underneath a huge, colorful flower arrangement. She gawked at the flowers for nearly a full minute, unsure if whether or not they were actually there or if she just was experiencing a bizarre side effect of the sealing.

"...How the fuck did I miss those?" she wondered aloud, still staring dumbly at the flowers. Shuffling towards the head of the bed, she leaned forward and made her second big mistake of the day -- taking a huge, uninhibited whiff of the sweet smelling plants. The effect was immediate. Her eyes began to water as she choked and gagged from the unusually strong smell, and it took another good minute for her to shuffle over to the window and open it to get some fresh air. She took a few more deep breaths before turning to glare at her current ire.

"Fucking flowers," she spat, still gasping for air on the bed, "I should throw you bastards out the window for trying to kill me!" Just as she was about to make good on her threat, she noticed a small piece of paper sticking right out of the middle of the arrangement. Curiously, she reached over and plucked it out with careful hands, handling the paper as if it would crumble if she was too rough. She slowly unrolled the piece of paper and glanced over the contents.

There wasn't much of a message; just a simple 'Get well soon.' However, it was the small picture at the bottom that caused a warm feeling to spread throughout her chest. Someone had drawn a chibi Naruto smiling with that foxy grin of his. He was holding up two fingers in the customary peace sign, and there were even tiny fox ears drawn in with a red pen. She smiled softly to herself. It was the first time she'd ever gotten flowers.

Tayuya was by no means a flower expert, but she did learn some of the basics from her grandmother before she'd left to join Orochimaru. She turned a critical eye upon the arrangement. It was painfully obvious that he'd had some help with the bouquet, as it was much too neat and orderly for him to have put it together by himself. Hell, if it was up to him, he'd probably just fill the tissue paper with as many orange flowers as he could find.

She inched closer to observe each and every individual petal, something that she found extremely easy to do ever since her operation. Remembering something her grandmother had told her when she was young, she decided to start at the edges and work her way in. The first layer of flowers were simply tiny white baby's breath, customary for any arrangement to add that subtle sparkle. A small amount of fern and ivy helped them stand out more against the edges, and looking a little closer, she noticed that there were even a few purple baby's breath flowers thrown in to subtly accent the tissue paper. There was now absolutely no doubt in her mind that this was done by a professional.

Moving on, she trailed her amateur eyes over to the next group of flowers. These were more like the side dishes, used to build the viewer up until they could get to the center. There were mostly different colored tulips in this area, and she struggled to remembered what each color meant. She easily remembered that yellow tulips represented happiness and cheerfulness as they had been her grandmother's favorites, but the other colors were puzzling her to no end. The red tulips could possibly mean things like 'love' or 'admiration', but Naruto didn't seem to have those kinds of feelings for her at all. Deciding she'd put it off long enough, she lifted her eyes to view the main attraction. What she saw caused her breath to hitch painfully in her throat.

In the center of the multicolored and extravagant arrangement was a single purple rose, proudly standing out amongst the much louder and plentiful tulips. It clashed so violently with the rest of the flowers that Naruto had to have been the one to choose it. An expert would never make such a juvenile mistake. Still...roses were the universal language for love, no matter what the color. Did that mean...?

She frowned a bit at the thought of him actually being in love with her. The idea itself wasn't so bad, but...what could she say to that? Sure, she liked him well enough, but having him as a boyfriend? Even if she tried, she couldn't see herself actually skipping through a field of daisies with him, holding hands like old lovers and smiling at each with heartfelt desire. Fuck, she'd _shoot _herself if she ever seriously pictured such a sickeningly sweet and cliche scene. No, if he was actually in love with her, she'd have to reject him; for both their sakes.

Still...Naruto was dumber than a rock, and it was highly unlikely that he purposely chose a flower meant to express an emotion as strong as love. Knowing that idiot, he probably grabbed the prettiest looking thing he could find. He was simply showing her an act of goodwill by bringing her flowers, completely unaware that each individual flower had an actual meaning. She nodded forcefully to herself. That had to be it!

Nodding again, she grabbed the crutches resting against the bed and slowly hefted herself into a standing position. Maybe she could forgive the idiot after all. She picked up her brush from the side table and quickly ran it through her long red hair. It was much longer than she liked it, reaching just past her shoulder blades. A haircut would be needed sometime within the next couple of weeks. She briefly glanced in the mirror again before slipping both items into her pocket and heading towards the door, but not before plucking the violet rose out of the bouquet and slipping it one of the lower pockets of her pants. Putting on a small smile, she placed her hand on the doorknob.

"Naruto, did yo--" Tayuya started, opening the door. She watched dumbfounded as Naruto came tumbling headfirst into the room. After a few seconds, he picked himself up off the ground with a sheepish smile and began to nervously scratch the back of his head.

"H-hey, Tayuya!" he said, forcing a smile onto his face. She stared down at him with a blank expression. All feelings of thankfulness were long gone, being replaced by an empty void known as white hot rage.

"...What the fuck were you doing?" the girl asked, her voice neutral. Had he been a smart or insightful young man, Naruto would've taken off towards the nearest invasion shelter the moment she'd laid her eyes upon him. Unfortunately for him, he was neither.

"W-well, I heard you screaming and coughing, and I got worried, so I was trying to hear if you were okay, and then it got quiet so I opened the door to see if--" at that moment, Tayuya brought her left crutch down hard upon his head, sending him sprawling against the opposite wall. The blank, slightly curious expression was replaced by unbridled womanly fury, and if one looked closely, they could literally see the flames of hell burning within her eyes.

"You _just_ don't fucking learn, do you?" she ground out through clenched teeth. Her crutch was poised high above her head for another strike, and he briefly wondered who would get all of the ramen stashed away in his cupboards if he should die here. Fearing for his life, Naruto did the only thing a true man could do in this situation; he begged.

"I-I'm sorry! I wasn't trying to peek, I swear! I was just really, really worried about you and thought you were in trouble! Please don't kill me!" he cried, staring up at her with wide, innocent blue eyes. She slowly felt her anger fading as she stared into his deep blue eyes, and gradually, she loosened her grip on the small wooden crutch and lowered it back to her side.

"You looked in because you were worried?" Her eyes still stared angrily into his, despite the crumbling of her resolve. When he vigorously nodded his head to show his agreement, she sighed deeply and hung her head. Goddamn him and those beautiful persuasive blue eyes of his. That had to be some kind of kinjutsu used to break even the fiercest of shinobi. "Idiot," she said, bopping him over the head again for good measure, "Just ask next time. Okay?" Realizing that he got to live for another day, he shot up from his position on the ground and flashed her a foxy grin.

"Okay!" Tayuya rolled her eyes at his enthusiastic response but couldn't keep a small smirk from making its way onto her face.

"Quit fooling around and let's go. If we're late, I'm telling the little fuckers it's your fault." That got him moving. He still had vivid memories of having his most intimate parts trampled by a large horde of bloodthirsty demonic minions.

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"Ino-chan?"

The pink haired woman stared down at the young kunoichi with more than a little bit of shock. The last she'd heard, Ino and her daughter had been bitter rivals, fighting over the now missing Uchiha. The girl smiled up at her apologetically. No doubt the woman knew of their rivalry, so it was a little awkward to suddenly show up on her doorstep after nearly two years of absence.

"Ohayo, Haruno-san! Long time no see! Is Sakura home?" she asked, trying to keep her voice light and innocent. True to her word, the blond had decided to visit her old friend first thing in the morning to discuss the hyperactive ramen-freak. She was a little tired, having spent most of the night coming up with ways to ask about Naruto without letting his teammate catch on to her intentions. Maybe because she was embarrassed to be even considering Naruto as something more than a friend, or maybe because she was afraid that Sakura would try to beat her to him.

She almost smirked at the thought. Sakura interested in Naruto? Not likely. Especially since Sasuke had only gone missing a couple of weeks earlier. Unlike herself and the other fangirls, Sakura seemed to hold a genuine love for the dark-haired boy, and the chances of her even _thinking_ about moving on were slim to none.

"Yes, come in! Maybe you can help to get her out of this little funk she's been in lately." Ino's eyebrows shot up.

"She's _still _crying about Sasuke?" The woman sadly shook her head.

"In a way, I wish she was. Then I'd at least know what was bothering her." She motioned for the girl to follow her up the stairs. "She suddenly came home in tears a couple of days ago and ran straight up to her room. I haven't seen much of her since, except for when she leaves to train with Hokage-sama and comes back home again. She won't even come down for dinner anymore!"

The blond frowned. That wasn't like Sakura at all. She glanced at the pictures on the wall leading up to the second floor. The entire wall was filled with pictures of the pink-haired kunoichi at different stages of her life, ranging from newborn to teenager. A sad smile fluttered over her lips at the pictures of herself and Sakura smiling at the camera like the best of friends, and she couldn't help but wonder why they'd let something as small as a childhood crush come between them.

Shaking her head, she continued up the steps until they reached the door that was quite obviously Sakura's. It was decorated with large, heart-shaped sakura petals and countless pictures of the wayward Uchiha. Ino felt herself throw up a little in the back of her throat. Her love for Sasuke was bordering on psychotic obsession.

"Sakura-chan? Honey? You have a friend here to see you!" the woman called through the door. She waited a few seconds for an answer, but when it became obvious that she was being ignored, she slightly hung her head and sighed. "I'm sorry, Ino-chan, just go right in. I believe you know how to get past the lock?" Ino nodded and stepped up to the door. Just as she was about to perform the necessary actions, her hand suddenly stopped in midair and she turned to address the woman waiting anxiously at her side.

"Ah...Mrs. Haruno, Sakura didn't want me to show you how to do it, so..."

"Oh! I'm sorry, I'll get out of your way." She backed away from door and hurried back down the stairs. After making sure that she was really gone, Ino took a deep breath and faced the door again. First, she banged the area above the doorknob twice and twisted it to the left once. Then, she kicked the bottom of the door three times, the wall next to the door hinge four times, and finally twisted the knob approximately three hundred and sixty degrees to the right. The girl smirked when she heard the familiar 'click' of the door being successfully unlocked, and easily swung it open with a boisterous sweeping motion.

"Oi, Sakura! What're you doing inside on such a beautiful day?" she teased, stepping into the dark room. She stalked over to the window and forced the sunlight obstructing curtains open. Taking a quick surveying look around, she noticed that the room was terribly messy, clothes strewn about carelessly all over the place and used snack wrappers littering the floor. Well, at least she wasn't starving herself. She poked at the noticeable bulge sticking up from the bed with her finger. "Hey, did you hear me? Get up!" An annoyed grunt resounded from the mass of blankets.

"Go away, Ino, I don't feel like talking today." Ino frowned and plopped down on an unoccupied corner of the bed.

"Too bad, I do." With a forceful pull, she tossed the blankets off of the pink-haired genin and onto the floor.

"Ino! I'm serious, go away!" Sakura yelled, turning away from the blond. She only wore a simple pair of black sweat pants and a large pink t-shirt, and her short pink tresses were strewn about over her large puffy pink pillow-- with a blown up picture of Sasuke screen printed on it, of course.

"No! Look, either you get up right now, take a shower, and change clothes or I do **_it_**." The girl suddenly stiffened and slowly turned her head to meet the mischievous blue eyes of her former best friend.

"You wouldn't." Ino's grin widened.

"I would." Sakura's eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.

"You don't have the guts." The blond's smile widened to nearly impossible proportions, and with the loudest and most annoying voice she could muster, opened her mouth and began to sing.

" If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends, make it last forever, friendship never eeenddss! If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give, taking is too easy, but that's the way--"

"Enough! I give up!" She screamed, desperately clawing at her ears with her fingernails. "Why did you have to go _there_?! Are you _trying_ to permanently damage my ears?" Ino idly scratched at her ear with the fingernail of her pinky and shrugged.

"Hey, you had your chance. Don't blame _me_." Grumbling, Sakura rolled out of bed and grabbed a few bits of clothing off of the floor while her rival watched with an amused smirk. She then stalked out of the room, and fifteen minutes later, returned looking much better than she had when she'd left.

"There, happy?!" she growled, angrily plopping down in her desk chair. Ino smiled and nodded.

"Don't you feel so much better now?" Sakura crossed her arms and shot her a dark glare.

"What do you want, Ino?" The teasing smile immediately dropped from the blond's face as she remembered why she'd come in the first place. She lowered her eyes in thought, trying her hardest to remember the lines she'd rehearsed the night before. After a few seconds of thought, she gave up and decided to wing it. Her best bet was to get her guard down, and establish some sort of mutual trust between them. With that thought in mind, she lifted her head and put on a concerned expression.

"Nothing much, just wondering why you're acting all depressed and moody. Does it have to do with Sasuke?" she asked, feigning interest. To be honest, she couldn't care less about her rival's problems. Nine out of ten times it had something to do with Sasuke, and one could only listen to the same old story a hundred or so times before becoming fed up. She fought the urge to roll her eyes when the girl nodded.

"Kind of. How'd you know?" Ino's eye twitched with annoyance.

_'Gee, I don't know, maybe because it's **always** about Sasuke?'_ she thought. Instead of voicing her opinion, she smiled cheerfully and gave her a knowing smile. "I can see it in your eyes, of course!" _Bullshit._ "So, what's the problem this time?" Sakura sighed softly.

"Well, actually, the problem's mostly with Naruto." Ino blinked in surprise. Perhaps this was something worth listening to after all.

"Naruto?" she asked, leaning forward on the bed. Sakura nodded and scowled.

"Yeah. He's hiding the identify of one of the shinobi who kidnapped Sasuke!" The blond's eyebrows shot up into her forehead.

"W-what?"

"I'm serious! Remember that redhead we saw when we visited Naruto's room? She actually works for Orochimaru! I bet her name isn't really Tayuya, either! Can you believe he hid something so horrible from the entire village?! He even lied to my face about it!" Ino lowered her eyes and looked away, immediately piquing Sakura's curiosity. "Ino?"

"Uh, yeah. I can't believe he'd do something like that." In reality, Shikamaru had already filled her in on the situation. Well, she'd actually had to beat it out of him, but she preferred to overlook such unimportant details. It was extremely easy to see that there was something fishy about the redhead; when they'd all entered the room, both Chouji and Kiba had reacted powerfully to her presence. The fact that her teammate had to shut them up only cemented her suspicions. Sakura's theory did serve one purpose, though; she now knew the face of the one Naruto was buying the flowers for.

"You know something, don't you?" Sakura asked, standing from her seat. When her rival shifted uncomfortably on the bed, she rushed over to grab the girl by the shoulders. "Did Naruto help her kidnap Sasuke? I bet he did! He's always been jealous Sasuke and I's relationship!" That did it. Ino's eyes narrowed into angry slits as she too shot up from her seat to stare her fellow kunoichi straight in the eyes. Surprised, Sakura took a small step back.

"Shut the hell up! I can't believe you'd even _think_ of something so outrageous about Naruto! He's been nothing but kind and loyal to you, and yet you suspect him of kidnapping Sasuke?! He's your _teammate_, for Kami's sake! Why don't you use what's behind that billboard brow of yours and think for a change! Sasuke left, Sakura, and no matter what you may come up with in that arrogant, hoity-toity head of yours, that fact will always remain true!" Both girls stared into each other's eyes, Sakura in definite shock and Ino in furious anger. After nearly a full minute of tense silence, the pink-haired genin finally composed herself enough to speak.

"Get. Out," she hissed, her bangs covering the majority her eyes. Ino snorted and turned on her heel, making a beeline towards the door. She didn't know why she'd flown off the handle like she did, but she was confident that she would've defended any of the Konoha 11 in the same way. None of them, especially not the perpetually cheerful and honest Naruto, deserved to be accused of something so idiotically unsubstantial. Pulling the door open with as much strength as she could muster, she shot one last glare over her shoulder at her former friend and rival.

"Gladly!" She slammed the door and stomped down the stairs, completely brushing off Sakura's worried and overwrought mother. As far she was concerned, that bitch _deserved_ to wallow in her shallow pool of self pity.

Five seconds after Ino had walked out of the door, Sakura fell to her knees and cried.

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	12. Chapter 12

**Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 12**

Besides the usual glares and sneers from the villagers, the trip to the Academy was largely uneventful. They slipped into the school building with more than a little apprehension. It'd been almost a week since they'd last been there, and there was no telling how the children would react to their prolonged absence. Tayuya nodded towards the door and gave the subtle command for Naruto to slide it open. There was no guarantee that they'd make it out alive; hell, there was no guarantee that they'd make it out at all. After saying a quick prayer to Kami-sama, they stepped into the room and braced themselves.

"Tayuya-sensei! Naruto-sensei! They're back!" one of the kids, yelled, pointing excitedly towards the door. At that moment, a large group of sniveling, ecstatic five year olds rushed towards them at mach five speeds. It took every ounce of the girl's willpower not to turn around and get the fuck out of there, and she wondered if her fellow genin was feeling the same way. They dragged the teens into the room and slid the door shut behind them, ultimately sealing their fates.

This time, the children wasted no time in forcing Tayuya to sit in the small, plush chair endearingly dubbed as 'The Princess's Throne' and shoved a large red storybook into her hands. She watched amazed as the toddlers moved like clockwork, grabbing pillows, blankets, and various other toys to help make themselves comfortable. Even if they were little demons, she had to admit that they were organized. A small pressure on her lap snapped her out of her thoughts, and she glanced down to see the same small, brown-haired girl from the week before making herself comfortable against her body.

"Why do you always sit in my lap?" Tayuya asked, staring down at the girl with a small frown. The girl lifted her large, brown eyes up to meet the redhead's own, and with an annoyingly cute smile, she answered.

"You feel like my mommy." A stifled chuckle was heard to her left, and she turned her head to glare menacingly at Naruto. Unfortunately, the effect was lessened by the light flush of her cheeks. Almost ripping the book in half, she opened it and buried her face within the pages to hide her embarrassment.

"So...does anyone remember where we left off?" she ground out through clenched teeth, resisting the incredibly strong urge to punch the smug looking blond in the face. Two dozen hands shot up into the air, one of them belonging to Naruto. She nodded towards a sickly boy that she recognized as Jin.

"The snake was just about to kill the fox for getting in his way!" Tayuya nodded and flipped a few pages until she found it.

"Here?" She held up the book towards the kids, and when they all nodded simultaneously, she cleared her throat slightly and began to read. "_Frowning, the snake launched himself at the wounded fox. '**I told you to not to meddle, and now you shall die!' **Before he could sink his fangs into the fox, a strong, white light shot out from the fox and covered him in an angelic glow. The fox could feel the power surging through him, and with a mighty growl, he jumped to attack the snake._" The children gasped in surprise at the sudden turn of events, causing Tayuya to snicker at their awestruck expressions. She'd forgotten just how amusing it was to watch their faces twist and turn with each new page.

"_After dodging the snake's bite, the fox ducked under his belly killed the snake with a strong swipe to the stomach. As soon as she was sure he was dead, the princess rushed over to the fox and gave him a big hug. **'Oh, thank you fox!'** the princess said, snuggling up against his fur. **'Thank you for saving me from that evil snake!'** The fox only shook his head and smiled. **'You are my friend, Princess, and I will always protect you.'** Walking hand in hand--_" The redhead idly wondered what the hell kind of fox had hands instead of paws, "_--the fox and princess strode through the forest together towards the Wizard's house to tell him all about their victorious battle. The end._" Tayuya glanced up from her book to gauge their reactions.

For five seconds, no one moved. Each of the children had a different expression on their face; some were amazed, some were terrified, and a few of them even had the beginnings of tears in their eyes. Even though she thought she'd done a good job in reading the story, she certainly wasn't expecting the loud wave of applause and cheers that reached her ears.

"You're the best reader ever!" one of them exclaimed, standing up to embrace her in a hug. She tensed momentarily at the unusual feeling, but eventually relaxed enough to awkwardly wrap her arm around his shoulders.

"Uh...thanks," she replied, giving him a slight squeeze. Unfortunately, that simple action only encouraged the rest of the children to try the same. A crowd of students rushed her at full speed to receive a hug of their own.

"I want a hug too!"

"Me next! Me next!"

"Hey! No skipping!"

Tayuya's face was visibly uncomfortable, and she looked over towards her only ally for help. Much to her chagrin, said ally was currently rolling on the ground, laughing at her predicament. "Naruto!" she yelled over the crowd of noisy five year olds, "Help me!" Naruto considered leaving her alone to deal with the children by herself, but the pleading look in her eyes made him change his mind. Even if this wasn't exactly a battle, he was never one to abandon a comrade in need. With a sigh of resignation, he stood up and walked over to one of the cupboards in the classroom. He then pulled out a box of cookies and took a deep breath.

"Who wants cookies?!" he yelled, raising the box high above his head. The effect was immediate. The swarm of children quickly forgot about their quest to receive a hug from the redhead, and instantly encircled Naruto to receive their snack. Naturally, sugar dominated everything else. "First, you have to sit down at your tables." They wasted no time in getting settled in the tiny chairs, and five minutes later, he finished laying out cookies and milk for the kids to eat.

"Fuck, I thought I was a goner!" Tayuya breathed, absentmindedly brushing herself off. Except for training, she'd rarely received any kind of physical contact from anyone in the Sound; sadly, most of it was from Orochimaru. Receiving any kind of physical affection, especially from a writhing mass of flesh and snot, was well above her comfort level. She glanced up at the clock hanging over the door and frowned. "We were supposed to leave ten minutes ago. It's already one o'clock in the fucking afternoon." He nodded and handed the girl her crutches.

"Are you coming back tomorrow?" a small voice asked as she stood up. They both glanced down to see the sickly young boy from before, Jin, staring up at them with wide eyes. Looking over his head, the genin realized that the entire class was waiting on a reply. Naruto grinned sadly at the children.

"Sorry, me and Tayuya-sensei are gonna be gone for awhile." The five year olds' faces immediately dropped into a frown.

"For how long?" one of the children asked from the back of the classroom. Both teens tensed slightly at the question. There was no doubt in either of their minds that the kids wouldn't like what they would have to say. Tayuya slowly began backing towards the door, just in case the little bastards decided to attack.

"Uh...three years." At once, a loud chorus of whines and shouts filled the room.

"You can't go for that long! You're our favorite senseis ever!" Jin whimpered, still staring at them with puppy eyes. The redhead rolled her eyes and turned to address the kids. It was obvious that with Naruto trying to explain things, they'd never leave.

"We'll be back before you know it. While we're gone, I expect each and every one of you to become strong shinobi of the Leaf. Is that clear?" she asked, fixing them with a stern glare. The children stared up at her in confusion before sharing determined nods amongst themselves.

"Hai, Tayuya-sensei!" they shouted in unison. With a final wave goodbye, the two genin slipped out of the room.

That night, twenty-one sets of parents had a heart attack when their children proudly proclaimed that they wanted to become Konoha ninja.

---------------------

"Where did that come from?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow at the redhead hobbling along at his side. They'd just left the Academy, and after five or so minutes of deliberating, decided to take a stroll through the Market District to kill some time.

"Where did what come from?" the redhead shot back. The blond scrunched up his face in thought.

"You know, that thing where you told all of the kids to become Konoha shinobi. I thought you hated this place?" Tayuya shrugged as best she could on the wooden crutches.

"I do, but if I have to live in this shithole for the rest of my goddamn life, I want to be at least somewhat safe. The more ninja the better, right?" The blond nodded his agreement. He had to admit that she had a point, even if it was for the wrong reasons. He casually placed his hands behind his head and looked up at the cloudy blue sky. Konoha was at its prettiest around this time of year.

"I guess. So, what do you want to do now?" he asked, trying to pick shapes out of the clouds floating above his head. The majority of them just looked like large white balls of cotton, and he could never understand why Shikamaru loved staring at them so much. After a five second wait for her answer, he eventually turned his eyes to look at her. "Tayuya?"

To his surprise, the fiery redhead was nowhere to be seen. Panicking slightly, he immediately turned around to see if she'd tripped or fallen when he wasn't looking. He felt his panic rise another level when he realized she wasn't anywhere near him. A million thoughts began to run through his head; Had someone kidnapped her? Was it another Sound ninja coming to finish the job? Did she ditch him? Shaking his head, he scratched the last item off of the list. She'd had a hard enough time simply walking with the crutches, so there was no way she could have disappeared on her own in such a short amount of time.

He quickly retraced his steps, looking into every single dark alley and side street on the path back to the Academy. '_Where the hell is she?!' _he thought, his mind racing with possibilities. Just as he was about to give up after nearly fifteen minutes of searching, a large white sign in one of the store windows caught his eye. He rushed over to window and breathed a small sigh of relief when he read the bright red letters painted crudely on the poster board:

**_'Going out of business sale! 50 percent off on all instruments and supplies!'_**

Of course. If he remembered correctly, Tayuya had used a flute as her main weapon. He also remembered that he hadn't seen her with a flute since he'd met her two weeks ago. Taking a deep breath, he slowly pushed the door to the shop open and stepped inside the dimly lit room.

Despite there being a huge sale on instruments and supplies, the store was still crowded with guitars, drums, cymbals, and a whole bunch of other instruments he'd never seen before. There didn't seem to be any particular order to the way the items were arranged, and large brown boxes littered the floor of the shop. He couldn't see much from the doorway except for a ridiculous amount of shelves and bookcases. In the back of his mind, he wondered how many people had died trying to find their way out of the junky recesses of the store.

"Hello!" an older woman croaked, smiling widely at him from behind the counter. Her hair was just starting to gray, and her clothes looked worn but comfortable. A small pair of glasses were perched dexterously on the tip of her nose and were connected to a small golden chain hanging around her neck. "Welcome to the..." a small frown marred her face when she finally got a good look at his whisker marks. "What do you want?" Naruto felt the corners of his mouth twitch downwards, but quickly masked it with the widest possible smile he could muster.

"Sorry to bother you, but I'm just looking for my friend. Did a girl with red hair come in here?" he asked, trying to be as respectful as possible. The woman eyed him suspiciously.

"Why? What if I have?" she shot back. Before he could answer, an excited shout reached his ears from somewhere within the mass of brass and wood.

"Naruto! Naruto, is that you?! Get your ass over here quick!" He recognized the voice as Tayuya's and let loose the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. Shooting the old woman a nervous smile, he gingerly stepped into the old shop and attempted to find his way to the voice hidden among the shelves.

Still eying him suspiciously, the shop owner shouted over to Tayuya. "You know this boy?"

"Yeah, he's the fucker I told you about before, the one that helped me out with my legs." She scowled from her place in the back of the store and waved one of her crutches in the air to help him pinpoint her location. "Where the hell are you?! Hurry up and get the fuck over here!"

"I can't! It's like a maze in here!" the blond replied, doing his best to find a way out. Everytime he thought he was close to the girl, another bookshelf or pile of boxes stood in his way. A loud sigh was heard from the direction of the front desk, followed by the sound of tired footsteps.

"Hold your horses, I'll help you get there." In less than a minute, the woman skillfully found her way to stressed blond and motioned for him to follow her. "I swear, you young shinobi are hopeless, relying on brute strength instead of brains to get through life. In my day, we were taught to think before we acted, and to go into every battle with a set plan." Naruto cocked an eyebrow in curiosity.

"You were a kunoichi?" he asked, thoroughly surprised. She didn't look all that impressive, and at first glance, one would never know. Still navigating through the store's maze, she nodded.

"Pah! I was one of the best genjutsu specialists of my time! That red-eyed girl...what's her name...Kurenai can't compare to the level I was at when I was her age. Hell, I could put that Itachi brat in an illusion so fierce he'd be down on his knees begging for me to hurry up and kill him." The image of the stoic and powerful Itachi begging to be put out of his misery was too much for the boy, and he galefully chuckled softly to himself. "The only thing I couldn't stop with my genjutsu is that damn nine-tailed fox. A shame, too, since he killed both my parents and my husband." Naruto lowered his head slightly at her words.

Even though he had nothing to do with the Kyuubi's attack on the village, he still felt a small amount of guilt for even keeping it alive inside of him. He thought he heard a snort in the back of his mind, but brushed it off when the woman pointed towards an opening ahead of them. "Ah, here we are!"

They walked around a corner to see a wall completely covered with flutes. There were flutes of all different lengths, types, material, and colors hanging on the large slab of wood. Staring enviously up at the wide assortment of wind instruments was a cheery-eyed Tayuya.

"Naruto, look! They have so fuckin' many here!" He watched her face as she studied each and every individual flute, and was surprised at what he saw. Her face was completely different from what he used to seeing, and there wasn't a trace of anger or hatred on her angular features. It was almost like looking at a completely separate individual! The owner stepped up beside the girl to look up at the assortment with her.

"Do you know what you're looking for?" she asked, clasping her hands loosely behind her back. Tayuya nodded slowly and pointed up at a simple copper flute resting near the top of the display. There didn't appear to be anything special about it, and the old woman frowned deeply at her choice. "You want _that_?"

"What?" the redhead asked, taken aback at her tone of voice. "Why the fuck not? It's the only battle flute I see up here." A small spark appeared in the woman's eye, and a smirk slowly made its way onto her face.

"Ah, it's a battle flute you're looking for! Why didn't you say so? You know, I used one too when I was still on active duty, and I've collected quite a few over the years." Both teens watched as she smoothly walked over to a small door built next to the wall. She opened the door and stepped inside, piquing their curiosity. "Are you ready?" she called from inside the room. Naruto glanced at Tayuya and shrugged.

"Sure?" A few seconds after the words left his mouth, the wall in front of them pivoted and turned to reveal another large wall filled with flutes. The only difference was that they were all built for battle. He could literally feel the waves of shock and excitement pouring off of the girl at his side, and she wasted no time in hobbling up to the wall for a closer look.

"H-holy shit!" she exclaimed, eyes wide with surprise. "Where the fuck did all of these come from?!" The woman chuckled as she emerged from the doorway.

"Well, it's pretty rare for someone to come in and look for battle flutes. In fact, I've only had one other customer in the past twenty years." She paused to follow the girl's line of sight and smiled. "Ah, I see you're admiring a Western fife. I picked that one up in the Tea Country nearly thirty years ago. It has a wonderful sound, and is pretty durable providing that you clean it right. I wouldn't recommend it for someone like you, though." Tayuya glared slightly at the woman.

"Why not?" Smiling softly at the redhead, she walked up to the wall and picked up a long, black flute with a deep red trim. Intricate red vines twisted up and around the flute in a spiral pattern, and small, dark red rose buds were painted at both ends. Tayuya felt her breath leave her as she reached out towards the flute.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? The construction is very similar to the Chinese bangdi, and the body itself is made up of a mixture of titanium alloy, aluminum, and a small amount of nickel. The sharpest kunai couldn't even _scratch_ a flute of this caliber, let alone slice it in half. There's also a chakra enhancing seal placed right inside of the blowing hole. Your genjutsu will be ten times more devastating, and even an experienced shinobi would have a tough time getting out of a simple B-ranked illusion; if you're talented, of course." The girl ran her finger tips along the grooved surface of the flute, relishing in the feel of the cold metal against her skin.

"How...how much is it?" she stuttered, afraid of what the answer would be. The owner sighed softly.

"Well, the original price is 65,440 yen." Both teens sucked in a large breath of air. That was a shitload of money, especially to two struggling genin. "But, with the half off sale, that brings the price down to 32,720 yen." Tayuya frowned again. It was way out of her price range; mostly because she was flat broke. She glanced over to Naruto who had a similar sad grimace on his face.

"Um...I don't have _that_ much with me right now," he said, poking at his fatter than usual frog wallet. The woman sighed again and crossed her arms.

"How much _do_ you have?" The blond shuffled through his money and let out a sigh of his own.

"Only about 17,000 yen."

"I'll tell you what; you show me that you actually have skill in playing the flute, and I'll cut the price in half again. It's not like I'll be able to sell all of these by the end of the month anyway," she said, motioning to the remaining flutes. The redhead's face lit up, and she smirked cockily at the proposition.

"That's it?!" she snorted, hobbling over to a small stool leaning against the wall. "Fuck, you might as well start wrapping this shit up right now!" After settling herself down on the wooden piece of furniture, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She hadn't so much as touched a flute since her battle with Shikamaru, and for a musician of her caliber, that was a long fucking time. Tayuya flexed her fingers and ran her tongue over her lips a few times before lifting the small black instrument to her lips.

Blowing gently, she started off with a few scales to get used to the tone and timbre of the flute. For someone who'd only heard the sound of three different flutes in her entire lifetime, the small, metal woodwind produced the most beautiful sound her ears had ever had the pleasure of listening to. She nearly dropped the flute in surprise at the smooth, rich melody that emanated from the instrument, completely different from the wavering, haunting tone of her old flute. The older woman smiled knowingly.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" she asked, a small twinkle in her eyes. Still shocked, Tayuya slowly nodded.

"Fucking hell, I can't believe you're going to sell it to me for so cheap!"

"I haven't agreed to anything yet," the owner said with a mischievous grin. In reality, she'd known the girl could play as soon as she walked into the store. The redhead had blown into the store with an excited, wide-eyed expression, and without even being shown, easily found her way to the southern wall of the shop as if she was being led by the instruments themselves.

Instead of answering, Tayuya simply raised the flute to her lips and closed her eyes again. Surprisingly enough, she didn't know that many songs outside of the melodies she used to control her summoned ogres or genjutsu. Not because she didn't want to; No, between training with the Sound Five and missions, she rarely had any time for herself. Taking a deep breath, she decided to play the first song she'd ever heard her grandmother play.

The sound it made was simply astounding. Her fingers moved like liquid over the many individual air holes, and each note sounded as if the angels themselves were singing along in harmony with the flute. Standing to her right, Naruto could only watch amazed as she expertly manipulated the small instrument to do her bidding, increasing and decreasing her airflow with practiced ease. As he listened to her play, he realized that there was a whole lot more to the bitter girl he knew as Tayuya; underneath her angry, abrasive mask was a completely different person -- a girl who preferred to express herself through her music rather than her words.

"Adagio," the older woman whispered, jolting him from his trance-like state. In his daze, he'd completely forgotten that she was still standing next to them. He lifted an eyebrow and glanced up at her.

"Adagio?" She nodded slowly and smiled.

"By Ludwig Van Beethoven, one of the greatest composers of all time. The fact that she can play the piece so well without any sort of reference...it's extraordinary!" He stared at the woman a moment longer before turning his eyes back to his teammate. He didn't really understand all the stuff about music or composing, but he did know that what she was playing sure sounded good.

A few minutes later, Tayuya finished the song and slowly brought the flute away from her still pursed lips. She kept her eyes closed for a couple of seconds, reveling in the rush she got from playing again after so long. Music was like a part of her soul, and without it, she didn't think that she would've lived as long as she did. It was the only thing in her life that she had complete control of, and it was often the thing that kept her sane when Orochimaru's demands became too much for her young mind and body to handle.

She slowly opened her eyes to see both Naruto and the shop's owner staring at her with a mixture of surprise and awe. Immediately, she blushed and scowled back at them.

"W-what?!" she spat, furrowing her brows. The looks were unfamiliar, and to be honest, a little nerve wracking.

"That was splendid!" the woman gushed, clapping her hands together at a rapid pace. "When I asked you to show me that you could play the flute, I was expecting something like _Hot Cross Buns_ or _Twinkle Twinkle Little Star_; not something as advanced and intricate as Adagio! Most musicians that have been playing for over _fifteen years_ can't even play that piece, and you played it from memory! You have a true gift, do you know that?!"

Tayuya's eyes softened at her words. She'd never been complimented so vehemently, and found that it wasn't all that bad of a feeling.

"T-thank you," she murmured. The woman just shook her head and motioned for them to follow her to the front counter. Naruto waited until she was out of earshot before nervously scratching the back of his head and turning to his teammate.

"Ano, I know this probably doesn't mean much coming from me, but you were really great." The redhead's blush deepened to an impossible shade of red. She quickly stood up and grabbed her crutches, hiding her burning face with her hair. On the inside, she was thoroughly disgusted with herself for showing so much emotion over something so trivial. She'd been trained for nearly seven years to be a textbook ninja, and in less than three weeks, every rule and regulation she'd learn had been unceremoniously thrown out the window. All because of a loudmouthed, orange-wearing genin.

Instead of acknowledging his praise, she snorted and made her way to the front of the store. "Hurry up," she snapped, glancing over her shoulder at him. Naruto stuck his tongue out at her but followed anyway. He'd already seen some of what was under her mask, and was already plotting to uncover the rest.

When they reached the front counter, the owner smiled and set a small case in front of them.

"16,362 yen, please," she said, looking at the blond expectantly. Sighing slightly, he slowly pulled Gama-chan from his pocket to procure the money from the frog's open mouth, and Tayuya swore she saw a small tear roll down the now skinny frog's cheek.

The woman quickly counted the money and placed it in the register. She then pulled two medium sized paperback books from the shelf behind her and placed them next to the flute's case.

"I know they probably won't be of much use to someone as skilled as yourself, but since I need to get rid of most of this stuff soon anyway, I'll give these to you for free." The redhead blinked in surprise and looked down to read the titles. In big, bold black letters, the first book read **_Flutes, Songs, and Melodies_.** Curious, she flipped through the book to see nearly two hundred pages filled with sheet music, and even a blank section in the back to compose some of her own. The second book was a bit smaller than the first and read _**Theory and Composition of Musical Genjutsu**_. She looked up at the smiling woman in shock.

"I...I can't accept these!" she exclaimed, nearly recoiling at the thought.

"Don't be silly; Like I said before, it's pretty rare that someone comes here to buy a battle flute, and even rarer that they want to buy a book that supplements them. All I ask in return is that you continue to play and improve. Is it a deal?" Tayuya slowly nodded and grasped the books in her hands, still in a small state of disbelief that she was getting them for free. She handed them over to an equally surprised Naruto and placed the flute in its case. After locking the latch in place and picking it up in her right hand, she bowed to the woman one last time.

"Arigatou," she said, doing her best to sound as sincere as humanly possible. The owner waved her off with another smile.

"When you've composed a song of your own, I'd love to hear it! As a matter of fact, here." She quickly scribbled something on a slip of paper and handed it to Tayuya. "It's my address. Come by anytime; I'll probably be home a lot once this store closes for good." The owner then turned her eyes over to Naruto. "And you," she started, narrowing her eyes slightly. The boy gulped in fear. He knew she was being too nice to be true.

"Y-yeah?"

"Make sure she stays on top of her practice. I would hate to see such pure talent go to waste." Naruto hesitantly lifted his hand to his head in a military salute.

"Hai!" They waved one last time to the kindly old woman before walking out of the disorganized old store. As soon as they were outside, the blond shot his teammate an amused glance. "I didn't know you even had manners," he chuckled, not noticing her narrowing eyes. She smacked him upside the head with one of her crutches in response. Still, she couldn't find it in herself to stay mad at him and allowed a small smirk to play across her lips.

"Idiot. She just sold me the best fucking flute I've ever laid eyes on for cheap! Of course I'm gonna use some fucking manners!" She lowered the crutch to the ground and began to set off towards the training grounds at a casual pace.

"Where are we going _now_?" Tayuya paused long enough to glare at him from over her shoulder.

"_I'm_ going to play my new flute. You can do whatever the fuck you want." Naruto watched her hobble away from him with a frown on his face. He'd been hoping to get a bowl (or five) of ramen with his remaining money, but he knew perfectly well that he couldn't let her out of his sight unsupervised. There was still a chance that one of Orochimaru's men was hidden inside the villages walls, and since she wasn't quite healed yet, it'd be too dangerous for her to try to protect herself. Sighing softly, he quickly jogged to her side and fell into step beside her.

They arrived at training ground three in just under half an hour. It was deserted except for the usual squirrels and birds, and Tayuya wasted no time in finding a large tree to recline against. She carefully lowered herself to the ground and pulled her flute from its case.

"What are you gonna play?" Naruto asked, plopping down beside her. He almost chuckled when he realized that it was the same exact tree he'd hung from during Kakashi's genin exam. Out of all the trees in the forested area, she just happened to pick this one. She shrugged slightly and flipped through the new songbook she'd received earlier.

"This looks good." He glanced down at the page and scrunched his nose. To him, the whole arrangement looked like a bunch of random scribbles and lines. His eyes traveled to the top of the page and read over the title.

"Clair de...Lune?" She nodded and lifted the flute to her lips. Blowing gently, she began to play, focusing diligently on the book in her lap. The tune was slow and sleepy; nothing like the haunting songs she already knew. The redhead felt the corners of her mouth twitch upwards when she spared a glance towards the blond reclining beside her.

As he listened to her play, Naruto noticed that his eyelids were becoming heavier by the second. He was doing his best to stay awake and on guard, but Tayuya's melody was making his task increasingly difficult. _'I'll just close my eyes for a few seconds,'_ he thought, sliding further down on the rough bark of the tree. In seconds, he was asleep.

The girl watched amused as he snored softly at her side. She wasn't even halfway done with the song, and he was already asleep! Of course, it wasn't completely his fault; the song was designed to be a lullaby, and the fact that he was out cold proved that she was doing a decent job in playing it. She tore her eyes away from his sleeping face and smiled. At least now she could practice in peace. If there was one good thing that anyone could say about her, it was that she was diligent and aggressive in her training.

----------------------------

For the first time in nearly three weeks, Hyuuga Neji smiled. Today, he was going to be released from the hospital and would be allowed to resume training in a week's time. As the nurse wheeled him out of the small, drab room, he anxiously awaited to see who would pick him up to take him home. In the worst case scenario, it would be Gai and Lee. Luckily, however, Gai had come by the day before and informed him that he'd be away on an A-ranked mission for a week. Although it was a morbid thought, he was almost glad that the Leaf needed extra help from the jounin-senseis to get back on their feet.

That left the Hyuuga household and his other teammates, Tenten and Lee. Any of the above choices would suit him just fine, although he really wouldn't like to see his cousins for awhile. The nurse rounded the corner and smiled. "Here we are!" Neji looked up to meet the smiling face of his teammate, Tenten. He let loose a small breath of relief. She was the most tolerable out of his team and of his family.

"Hello, Neji-kun!" she gushed, walking up to them. His brows furrowed slightly at her overly fangirlish attitude. Tenten usually wasn't like other girls; for the most part, she tended to stay calm and neutral in all situations. Unless she was meeting with her idol, the Godaime Hokage, of course. Still, he put on one of the famous Hyuuga smirks as she approached.

"Tenten," he said, acknowledging her greeting. The nurse stepped aside and allowed the brown-haired girl to grab the handlebars of the wheelchair.

"Remember, no training for at least a week! The wound in your abdomen still hasn't fully recovered, so Hokage-sama strictly forbids any kind of taijutsu. Training involving chakra should be alright, but take it easy regardless." He nodded as she walked back into the hospital, leaving the genin alone in the lobby of the building.

"So, _Neji-kun_, how was your stay?" Tenten asked, wheeling him out of the sliding double doors. The Hyuuga grunted angrily.

"Terrible. I was interrupted daily by nurses and visitors, fed the worst grovel I've ever tasted, and...Tenten, where are we going? The Hyuuga mansion is in the other direction." He glanced up at her to see a positively bone-chilling smile on her face. It wasn't her usual soft, caring smile. No, this one was much more sinister in nature, and for a moment, he thought he saw her eyes flash a demonic blood red.

"We're going to train,_ Neji-kun_!" A small bit of panic welled up inside of his chest. There was something...strange about the way she'd said that sentence.

"But, the nurse just said--"

"Neji-kun," she snapped, cutting him off. All traces of happiness and playfulness were gone. She stopped pushing for a moment to collect her thoughts. "Do you know what I did yesterday afternoon?" she asked, her voice completely serious. Too surprised at her sudden change in personality to speak, he simply shook his head. "Well, I got a little visit from your cousin Hanabi."

Fuck. He seriously considered making a break for the Hyuuga Compound, but knowing his current condition, she would catch up to him easily. If he was going to live, he'd have to be smart.

"Really? What did she want?" Tenten placed her hands on his shoulders and dropped her head, building a slow chuckle in the back of her throat.

"Oh, Neji-kun, who are you trying to fool? I know you sent her to me. Hanabi told me herself." Neji swallowed noisily and desperately began looking for an escape route. No amount of talking could get him out of this one. "Now, Neji-kun, why would you send your eight year old cousin to ask me about masturbation?" Her tone of voice promised death, and if it weren't for his royal upbringing, he was sure that he would've pissed his pants by now.

"I...thought you'd know better than I would?" he asked, edging towards the end of his seat. She chuckled again and shook her head.

"Neji, Neji, Neji. Do you know how awkward it is to teach a straight-laced, stuck-up, sexually innocent girl what it means to masturbate? To answer every embarrassing, gut-wrenching, disturbing question without sounding like a complete brothel girl?" She was messing with him now, but judging by his tensing muscles and wide eyes, he hadn't realized it. At that moment, Neji shot up from his wheelchair and made a mad dash in the opposite direction. His legs were a blur as he sped down the street, and a glance over his shoulder showed a surprised and pissed off Tenten still gripping the handlebars of his wheelchair. He allowed himself a small smile as he turned his eyes forward -- only to meet the glaring eyes of the girl he'd just left behind. The smile instantly dropped from his face as he skid to a hasty stop.

"B-but...you..._how_?!" She placed her hands on his shoulders and turned him around. Instantly, the girl standing by the chair dissipated into nothing.

"Bunshin no jutsu, E-level genjutsu. Now," she chirped, grabbing him by the back of his collar. "How are you going to make it up to me?" He lowered his head in defeat. In his current condition, there was nothing he could do to fight off her advances, and his only chance for survival was to go along with her demands and hope for the best.

"What...whatever you want." Tenten smiled deviously as she dragged him along the ground on his back.

"That's what I wanted to hear! First, you're going to help me train. I just learned a new B-ranked weapons jutsu last week, and need someone to test it out on. Don't worry, I'll try not to kill you. Then, I want you to take me out to dinner. A new restaurant just opened in the market district, and..." As she droned on in her demands, Neji couldn't help but wonder what the hell he did to deserve such a fate. Maybe it was the fact that he used to be an all around asshole to any and everyone. Maybe it was because he'd tried to kill his own flesh and blood during the Chuunin Exams. Whatever it was, karma was rearing its ugly head at this moment in time, and he did the only thing one could in this situation.

Raising a stiff middle finger towards the sky, Neji glared at the clouds and mouthed two words towards the heavens:

_'Fuck. You.'_

----------------------------

"Naruto! Oi, bastard, get up!"

Naruto squeezed his eyes together and rolled over, a bit of drool seeping from the edge of his mouth. Tayuya was currently doing her best to wake him up without having to resort to violence. Unfortunately for him, she had a very short patience, and she picked up the larger of the two books and smacked him on the head with it.

"Ouch!" he yelped, sitting up and rubbing his head. He glared tiredly at the smirking redhead before letting out a wide yawn.

"Fuck, you sleep like a goddamn rock! Aren't shinobi supposed to be alert at all times?" The blond brushed off her question and retaliated with one of his own.

"Why'd you wake me up?" Tayuya rolled her eyes and pointed towards the sky. The sun was just starting to disappear behind the horizon, and the sky was illuminated with countless hues of orange, purple, and red. The clouds were also turned a vibrant shade of peach, completing the perfect mosaic painted by the sky.

"It's too fucking dark, and I can't read my book anymore." Naruto tilted his head in confusion.

"And?"

"...And, I want to go _home_. I haven't had a decent shower in weeks, and I feel like shit. Let's _go_," she urged, pulling on his arm to emphasize her command. The blond rolled his eyes and stood up.

"Hai, hai. Geez, you're so bossy!" He reached out a hand to help her up, but she instead handed him her books and used the tree to get up by herself. When she was situated on her crutches, they set off towards the inner city at a leisurely pace.

Except for a few stragglers, the streets of Konoha were mostly devoid of life. Many of the citizens were still struggling with the memory of the attack by the Sand and Sound, and often shut themselves in by sundown. Even the builders and repairmen had called it quits for the day, leaving unfinished buildings and supplies strewn about the edges of the road. Not that they minded; for her part, Tayuya was becoming quite sick of being jeered at by the lowly civilians. Hell, back in Orochimaru's village, that was a one way ticket to the morgue; _if _she left enough of the victim, that is.

But, since Naruto seemed to ignore it, she endured it as best she could. They'd be leaving in two days anyway, and there was no sense in doing something that could threaten her chances of avoiding death or imprisonment. She glanced over at the boy in question to see that he was becoming increasingly nervous as they neared the residential district.

"What's up?" she asked, giving him a slightly concerned glare. Based on what she'd seen in the last three weeks, he never let anything get to him -- much to her annoyance of course. Her glare turned into a small mischievous grin. Since he seemed to be a little more vulnerable at the moment, now was a great time to pump him for information. "Are you nervous about what your parents will say when you bring me home?" His shoulders tensed for a split second, and if she wasn't a trained kunoichi, she easily would have missed it.

"I don't have parents." Tayuya shrugged nonchalantly. She'd kind of figured that, but didn't want to be caught off guard after she walked through the front door of his house. Still, she wasn't quite satisfied with his answer. Doing her best to sound as casual as possible, she prodded a bit further into his life.

"Oh. You know who they were?"

"Nope." She raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"So you've been an orphan since birth?" Without even looking at her, he nodded. She found herself frowning more and more with each of his replies.

"Well, who the fuck raised you then?"

"No one." Tayuya nearly slipped off of her crutches. He'd had _no one_? She shook her head in disbelief. Something just wasn't adding up! This unfazable, perpetually cheerful ball of sunshine raised _himself_?! It was incredibly hard to believe that he was able to survive such open hostility and persecution without anyone to back him up. Fuck, if _she'd_ had the Kyuubi inside of her, she would've use the bastard's power to go super saiyan on their asses years ago! Snorting softly, she realized that she had a whole new level of respect for the boy, even if it was grudging. They walked along in a slightly awkward silence for a few minutes until Naruto stopped and pointed to their left.

"That's where I live. If you don't want to stay here, it's okay. I'm sure Baa-chan has an extra room in that huge Hokage mansion she's got." The redhead tilted her head slightly and studied the wide building with a critical eye. She couldn't see it as well in the darkening light, but so far, it didn't look too bad. The light yellow walls of the three story building were slightly dirty, and there were countless shingles missing from the orange-red roof. Pipes and wires ran all around the exterior of the apartment, winding into and out of different windows and openings, and it seemed as though someone had done a half-assed job of repairing a few of the concrete walls with large planks of green wood. From the outside, it was very livable.

"You got water and electricity?" she asked, still staring at the building. Naruto blinked in surprise.

"Yeah, but--"

"That's good enough for me." Tayuya quickly crossed the street and made her way to the first flight of stairs. She frowned up at them until she felt herself being lifted into the air from below. "W-what the fuck are you doing?" the genin spat. While she was busy trying to figure out how she would get up the stairs, Naruto had ducked between her legs and lifted her up on his shoulders, crutches and all.

"What? I'm not gonna wait an hour for you to crawl up the stairs," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She hit him lightly on the top of the head with the end of her crutch and pouted.

"I'm not gonna thank you." The blond shrugged as best he could with a girl on his shoulders.

"You don't have to." Since she really wasn't that heavy, it took him just under two minutes to scale both sets of stairs and arrive in front of his door. He crouched down enough for her to get off and reached into his pocket for the key. "Ah, just so you know, it's kinda messy." She almost laughed at the nervous expression on his face.

"Are you fucking serious? I slept in the same room with three others guys for seven years of my life, and one of them was the fattest motherfucker in our village! Hell, you couldn't walk into our shit without stepping on a twinkie wrapper or a half eaten bowl of fuckin' Cocoa Puffs!" Naruto nearly choked on his spit as he cackled at the mental image her words were producing. Watching him fight for a breath of air, she allowed a small giggle of her own to escape from her normally scowling lips. When he recovered enough to stand up straight again, he stuck the key into the keyhole and twisted it in a clockwise direction. He then swung the door open wide and motioned for her to walk in ahead of him, to which she amusedly obliged.

Tayuya stepped into the small apartment and slipped out of her ninja sandals. She couldn't see anything from the hallway, so she slowly hobbled a little further until she came to a large door on her right.

"That's my room," he said, appearing behind her. Nodding, she opened the door and flipped on the light. Immediately, her eyes were met with the sight of dozens of scrolls, books, and wadded up pieces of paper on his bed and on the ground. A few ramen cups sat on the floor, and it was painfully obvious that he hadn't done any cleaning in at least a week.

She smirked at him from over her shoulder. "I didn't know you studied," she teased, causing him to scratch the back of his head sheepishly.

"Yeah, well, I was just reading up on seals and stuff. Ero-sennin said if I learned the basics, he'd teach me how to do the cool stuff later. It's kinda hard, though." The redhead glanced back at the scrolls and frowned.

_'Seals, huh?'_ she thought, scratching her head slightly. She'd learned how to seal small things like weapons and clothing from Orochimaru, but anything larger than a meter was out of the question. She briefly considered teaching him how to do it but decided to take a look at the rest of the apartment first. Tayuya turned around and limped the rest of the way down the hall until she came to another door.

"What's in here?" Naruto walked up to her side and opened the door.

"This is the bathroom. It's not that dirty, I don't think..." She turned on the light and smiled. While it certainly wasn't the cleanest bathroom in the world, it was definitely better than what she was used to. She turned around and walked towards the final opening at the end of the hall.

This room was easily the biggest in the entire house, being both the kitchen and the living room. A small stove and refrigerator sat in the corner closest to them, and a small table with a large basket on top was set up right in the middle. Numerous plants sat on a shelf next to the icebox, causing her to raise an eyebrow at the genin following behind her.

"Gardening?" she asked, motioning towards the pots with one of her crutches. He crossed his arms across his chest defensively and shrugged. Shaking her head, she turned back to finish her investigation of the room. There wasn't much left; a couch sat against the opposite corner of the wall, and a small TV rested on a black apple crate. "Not bad. I don't mind crashing here for a couple of days." A nervous grin appeared on his face, suddenly making her suspicious. "What? You don't want me to stay?"

"No! It's just that...you're gonna be the first person to stay over at my house." Both of her eyebrows shot up into her hairline.

"Really? What about the faggot Uchiha and that pineapple-headed cocksucker? Aren't they your friends?" He frowned slightly and nodded.

"Well, yeah, but they've never slept over or anything. Anyway, make yourself at home! You can use anything you want!" She let loose a small sigh of relief and wasted no time in heading back down the hallway.

"Good, I've been waiting for this shit since last month!" Instead of going straight to the bathroom, she hobbled her way into Naruto's bedroom for a change of clothes. While her clothes weren't especially dirty, she really didn't want to sleep in something she'd worn all day, and she would probably have to wear those clothes tomorrow too. She opened the top drawer of his dresser and pulled out a pair of orange boxer shorts. She then bent down to sift through the rest of his drawers until she emerged with a simple black t-shirt. Satisfied, she made a beeline towards the shower.

After closing and locking the door behind her, she reached into the shower stall and turned the water on to let it get warm. When it reached the appropriate temperature, she stripped down to her birthday suit and slowly slid under the soothing beads of water. Immediately, she felt better than she had in awhile and let out a loud content sigh. As the water cascaded over her smooth, lightly tanned skin, she felt every annoyance, worry, and exasperation wash away along with the dirt and grime from the day's activities.

"Damn," she breathed, reveling in the feeling of the lukewarm water on her face. Deciding she'd enjoyed herself enough, she reached for the bar of soap sitting in the dish next to her and lathered her body with the small, fragrant oval. Stepping back from the water, she grabbed some of Naruto's shampoo and began to massage it into her scalp and hair, frowning at the length. Apparently, it hadn't receded when she was knocked out of her curse seal state. She made a mental note to get a haircut sometime within the next month.

Suitably clean, she stepped back under the water and proceeded to wash the suds off of her body and hair before turning off the soothing jets of water and carefully stepping out of the shower. Her legs felt a little better than they had earlier, and if she moved slowly enough, she could actually walk without the crutches.

Tayuya grabbed a towel from the nearby wrack and roughly attacked her hair, drying it as best she could with her own power. She then used the towel to wipe the fog from the mirror and peered curiously into the reflective glass. Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and her mouth dropped open as she looked at her reflection.

The changes weren't huge; for the most part she looked exactly the same, and unless the person spent a fuckload of time with her on a daily basis, they probably wouldn't notice. The first thing she noticed was that her hair was slightly thicker than she remembered it. Only a few days before it was limp and flat, reaching towards the ground in a very lackluster manner. Now, however, it hung from her head in shining waves of rose-red, framing her face and drawing more attention to her eyes.

That train of thought brought her to her next observation. Instead of the plain dark brown they were before, her irises were lightly dusted with red, making them appear much lighter than they'd been before. The girl also discovered that her eyes were slightly more angular in appearance, giving her an older and more mature look to go along with her hair. She smiled at the thought, causing her eyes to immediately focus on her mouth. Or, more specifically, her teeth.

She nearly gasped at the length and sharpness of her incisors, tonguing them lightly to prove to herself that they were real. They were one step away from looking like actual fangs, and as she observed them further, she found that she looked eerily similar to the members of the Inuzuka clan Orochimaru had forced her to read about. Smirking slightly, she growled playfully into the mirror, baring her teeth and narrowing her eyes for added effect. To her amusement, she looked pretty damn intimidating (and hot) with that feral expression on her face.

Tayuya pulled her eyes downward to study the rest of her body. Not much had changed in her overall composition; she looked to be about the same height, although her muscles seemed a little more defined than they had been a few days before. Poking at her stomach, she realized that it was a bit flatter, too. _'Huh, weird,'_ she thought, lightly drumming on her tummy. As if on autopilot, her hands reached up to poke at her breasts.

While no could've ever called her flat chested (Like a certain pink-haired kunoichi), she certainly didn't remember them being this..._big._ They'd never filled her hands like this before -- although to be fair, she didn't have a lot of free time to look herself over every single week. Bracing her hands against the sink, she lightly bounced up and done, delighting in the slight bounce of her chest when she stopped. She almost brought her hands up to touch them again, but forcefully pulled them back down to her sides. If she didn't hurry up and get dressed, Naruto would start to worry. And the last time he'd worried...

A light blush adorned her cheeks at the thought of the blond peeking in on her while she studied the subtle changes of her body. The door was locked, but then again, he was a shinobi (albeit a dense one). Quickly shaking off that thought, she grabbed her change of clothes off of the toilet seat and hurriedly got dressed, taking special care not the put too much pressure on her legs while she did so. The boxers were a little shorter than she would've liked, only reaching to about the middle of her thigh, but they weren't much smaller than the tight training shorts she wore on a regular basis. Taking one last glance at herself in the mirror, she grabbed the crutches leaning against the wall and slowly walked out into the living room.

Naruto was currently sitting on his couch, focusing intently on a large scroll perched comfortably in his lap. Judging by his expression, she could see that he was having some trouble understanding it. His brows were furrowed in hopeless concentration, and his hands were digging viciously into the weathered paper of the document. Deciding to make her presence known (It was never a good idea to sneak up on a shinobi, no matter _how_ incompetent they were), she loudly cleared her throat to get his attention.

"I used your clothes," she said, moving towards the kitchen area of the apartment. "You can take your shower now if you want." The blond nodded slowly and rolled up the scroll. His eyes were beginning to hurt from reading so much at once, and Tayuya's suggestion was a much welcomed interruption. She watched bemused as he dragged his weary body from the couch and languidly trodded down the hallway. When he disappeared into the small, steamy bathroom, the redhead set about her task of finding something to eat.

The first place she checked was the refrigerator. Unfortunately, it was pathetically empty save for an expired carton of milk, four or five eggs, and half a jug of apple juice. She checked the cupboards one by one, finding things like unused pots, pans, plates, and just about every utensil known to man -- _but no food. _Just as she was about to give up and yell at Naruto for being a poor son of a bitch, a large box sitting next to the stove caught her eye. Or rather, it was the word written on it that got her attention. In big, black permanent marker was the word RAMEN.

"Of course," she mumbled, opening the box and peering inside. The brown cube was literally packed with different flavors of cup ramen, apparently color coded and alphabetized by flavor. Grabbing a dozen cups from the bin, she simultaneously pulled a large pot from the cupboard and filled it with water. Heating up the cups one by one would take far too long using a kettle, and in her opinion, it was a whole lot easier to just cook them all in one batch. With that thought in mind, she set the pot onto the stove and turned it up to high. The girl then reached into the cupboard for a couple of bowls and slowly ambled over to the table.

Just as she was about to set the bowls down in their places, she noticed the small basket sitting right in the middle of the tiny folding table. "How the fuck did I miss that?" she wondered, removing the excessive amount of plastic from around the edges. Her eyes widened when she saw what was inside; a whole variety of different fruits and vegetables, ranging from apples and bananas to potatoes and zucchini. She plucked the small piece of paper resting boastfully on top of the assortment and looked it over, rolling her eyes at it's contents.

"Naruto -- You eat too much ramen! If you want to be a good ninja, eat your fruits and veggies!" she said, reading the message aloud. Well, she couldn't argue with that. Whoever had left the basket didn't sign a name; only a small chibi picture of some faggot with one eye. Shrugging, she grabbed a few mushrooms, carrots, and an onion to add to the soup.

Once the water started boiling, she quickly opened all twelve of the cups and dumped them in one by one. She then chopped the vegetables she'd found a few minutes earlier and threw them in on top. Using one of his (brand new) spoons, she stirred the mixture until everything was boiling evenly.

"Let's see..." she muttered to herself. She opened the icebox again and grabbed the remaining eggs, breaking one to see if it had gone bad. To her relief, they seemed rather fresh, and she wasted no time in breaking the rest of them and tossing their innards into the boiling pot of soup.

At that moment, a certain blond ninja wafted into the kitchen, creeping up beside her and peering into the pot. "Whatcha cookin'?" he asked, squinting to see what was inside. Tayuya snorted slightly and stirred the contents again.

"Ramen. It was the only shit left in this entire fucking house, and you should be grateful that I'm making some for you, too." Naruto lifted an eyebrow in surprise.

"You're cooking some for me? Why?" She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"I might be a bitch, but I'm not an unappreciative one. You've done a lot of shit for me these past three weeks, and if all I have to do is cook some ramen to pay you back, then fuck, I'm all for it!" He laughed softly at her answer, causing a small smirk to appear on her own face. They stood there for a few more minutes, both staring impatiently at the boiling noodles rushing around in the large black pot. Realizing their close proximity, the redhead quickly turned the burner off and stepped away from the stove. "I-I think it's done now. Why don't you bring it to the table?" she stuttered, grabbing the apple juice and some cups before heading towards the dining area. The blond nodded and grabbed the pot by its handles.

He moved the basket and set it down right between them. Neither of them wasted any time in digging in to the large amount of ramen, pouring copious amounts of the soup into their bowls. Tayuya hadn't eaten in nearly two days, so for the first five servings, she was easily keeping up with the self-proclaimed ramen king. By the time she reached her seventh, the pot was already empty and both were contentedly leaning back in their chairs.

"That was great," Naruto sighed, stretching his arms languidly into the air. The girl nodded her agreement and lazily poked at her bowl with her chopsticks. After a few more minutes or relaxing, she placed her hands on the table and forcibly pushed herself up into a standing position.

"I'm tired. Where do I sleep?" she asked, grabbing her bowl and cup from the table. Her teammate stretched one more time and grabbed the remaining dishes off of the tiny card table.

"You can have my bed. Baa-chan said you need to recover, and you won't be comfortable on the floor." She nodded again as she hobbled towards the kitchen. The sooner she could walk, the better. She placed her dish in the sink and walked towards Naruto's bedroom. "Night!" Naruto called from the living room. Tayuya froze mid step and looked over her shoulder at the blond, briefly taking notice of his silly looking nightcap.

"You're not sleeping in your room?" When he shot her a confused glance, she quickly rushed to explain herself. "Because, it's your room, and I'd feel bad if you had to sleep on the couch." Naruto shrugged and continued to fix up the chair.

"It's no big deal. I can sleep on it for a couple of nights."

"Oh...well, I heard somewhere that sleeping on the floor is good for your back sometimes. Works out all the kinks and shit." She was bullshitting now, but knowing his gullible nature, he'd probably buy it. A smirk flittered onto her face when he appeared to be thinking it over. It was almost too easy.

"Really? Hm...that does sound right. Thanks!" He moved his sheets from the couch to the floor in front of it, earning a groan from the disabled girl in front of him.

"Goddamnit Naruto, if you're gonna sleep on the fucking floor then you might as well sleep on the fucking floor in your own goddamn room!" He raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"You don't mind?" Tayuya shook her head and let loose an exasperated sigh. Fuck, he was dense.

"No, Naruto, I don't mind. Come on." He grabbed his things and followed her into the large room. It took a few minutes to clean up the all the paper and trash littered on the floor, but eventually he was able to spread his sleeping bag next to the bed. Yawning, he plopped back onto the makeshift bed and placed his hands behind his head.

"Ne, Tayuya..." he asked, still looking up at the ceiling. She was currently sitting on his bed, stretching her legs as much as she was able to in her current condition. She paused momentarily to look at him.

"What?"

"Well...why did you want me to sleep in here? I know I'm not the smartest guy around, but I'm not stupid either." Tayuya's face unnoticeably flushed in surprise. She was certain that she'd gotten away with it, and slowly leaned back until she was in a position mirroring the boy's own.

"Don't feel special or anything; I've just never really slept alone before. In the Sound, there was always at least one of the fuckers in the room with me. I'm not used to being by myself yet."

"Why didn't you just say that?" The redhead frowned, glaring at him as if it was obvious.

"Because it's fucking embarrassing! What kind of third-rate shinobi is scared of sleeping by themselves?!" She watched him close eyes and turn over onto his side, facing the wall away from her.

"I think that since you were brave enough to admit it, you're stronger than anyone." She felt her cheeks grow warm at the compliment, and lay back on Naruto's bed in silence. She could see why he was called Konoha's number one surprising ninja; who would've guessed that the hyperactive blond idiot actually had a brain? Smirking amusedly to herself, she pulled the sheets over her tired form and closed her eyes.

"Night, Naruto," she murmured, already feeling her consciousness slipping. Unbeknownst to her, Naruto was smiling happily in his makeshift bed on the floor. For the first time in thirteen years, he had someone to say goodnight to -- other than his photo of team seven, anyway.

"Night, Tayuya!" With that, both teens drifted into a peaceful slumber, dreaming of the past, present, and the future.

----------------------------

**AN: 11k Words. Longest chapter to date! Sorry it took so long; some parts were extremely hard to write, and 95 percent of this chapter was written within the last three days. Ahahaha...thanks for over 500 reviews! I'm glad to see that you're enjoying this story as much as I am! Oh, and there are four or five made up words somewhere in this chapter (Not counting swear words). A cookie to the one who finds them all, lulz. Thanks again for R&R...ing!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 13**

Tayuya awoke to the annoyingly chipper sound of bluebirds singing at her window. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she pulled out the kunai she'd stashed under her pillow (No shinobi in their right mind would sleep unprotected) and nonchalantly tossed it towards the window, piercing one of the birds directly through its heart and scattering the others.

"Fucking birds..." she mumbled, holding back a yawn. She glanced down to the floor to see that Naruto had already left, and turned her gaze to the clock beside her to look at the time. _'Ten thirty?! Damn!'_ She quickly flung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. Her legs felt much better than they had the day before -- in fact, she could probably go without her crutches! Smiling, she stretched and took a few practice steps towards the door. For the most part, her legs felt sturdy. Still, the small shakiness worried her, so she grabbed one of the crutches leaning against the foot of the bed just in case.

Leaning lightly on the small wooden support, she slowly exited the room to look for her blond teammate. As soon as she stepped through the door, the sound of exaggerated explosions and shouts reached her ears. She rounded the corner of the hallway to see Naruto sitting cross legged on the ground, alternating between reading through a scroll and looking at the small television. He was dressed in his regular orange pants, a black t-shirt, and a black headband with the word 'Guts' sewn onto the front. Noticing her presence, he looked up with a sheepish smile.

"The TV didn't wake you up, did it?" he asked, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. Tayuya smiled back and shook her head.

"No, but I kinda wish it would've. Why the hell'd you let me sleep so late?" The blond shrugged his shoulders and turned back to his scroll.

"Baa-chan said you needed to rest, so I thought a few extra hours would help you get better faster. How're your legs?" The redhead lifted her eyebrows in surprise at his foresight. Now that she thought about it, it did make some sense.

"They're okay. It feels like I just ran nonstop from fuckin' Oto to Konoha, though. What the hell is that?" she asked, pointing to the scroll resting tightly between his fingers. He turned it towards her enough so that she could glance over it. "You're still reading that shit? Sealing isn't _that_ tough." Naruto lowered the paper and stared up at her with something akin to shock.

"You know how to seal?!" When she nodded, he pushed the rest of his books out of the way and patted the ground next to him. "Show me how to do it! Please?" Tayuya rolled her eyes but walked over to his side anyway. Using the crutch as a support, she lowered herself to the ground and plopped down next to him, crossing her legs to match his position.

"First, you have to tell me what you know. Do you know how sealing works?" He furrowed his brows and assumed a basic thinking pose.

"Uh, you put stuff into a scroll and roll it up?" the blond questioned, glancing at her with a confused expression. She regarded him with a deadpan expression and sighed. This was going to be much harder than she thought.

"No, dipshit. It's _much_ more complicated than that. Look, it'll be better if I show you. You got some ink and paper?" Naruto nodded and quickly hopped to his feet, rushing to his room at a dead sprint. He returned a few seconds later with a small bottle of ink, a brush, and a stack of blank paper.

"Here you go!" To her amusement, the bottle was still sealed at the top. Apparently, he didn't do much writing. She easily snapped open the seal and twisted the top off of the small bottle.

"Okay, first you need to know exactly what it is that you want to seal." The blond reached into the weapons pouch at his side and picked out a single kunai. Plucking it from his fingers, she set it down directly in front of a small piece of paper. She then dipped the end of the unused brush carefully into the ink and stirred the vicious fluid around to get it moving. "Sealing is easy; you're basically telling the paper what it is that you want to seal, or what action you want it to perform when activated. I usually write what the item is too, so that I don't forget what it was that I sealed. There's nothing worse than pulling out the wrong weapon and getting your ass kicked because of it." Lifting the ink covered tool from the bottle, she wrote the kanji for 'unseal kunai' at the top of the paper.

"That's all there is to it?!" he yelled, jaw figuratively scraping against the ground. Tayuya bopped him on top of the head with her free hand.

"Of course not, idiot! I still have to put the kunai _into_ the scroll!" She closed her eyes to calm herself down enough to continue with the lesson. For some reason, he was able to annoy her without even trying. "Now that you've got the words down, you have to convert the item into chakra using your own, and place it into the kanji you wrote before." She picked up the knife and channeled a bit of chakra into it before pressing it down firmly onto the freshly painted symbols. Automatically, the symbols began to glow as the kunai disappeared into the piece of paper, and a circular ring appeared around the area. "That ring means that the item has successfully been sealed. I've seen some people draw the ring themselves first and put the item inside of it, but I'm not sure how or why that works. You'd have to ask someone who knows a lot more about this shit than I do."

"Whoa! That's awesome!" Naruto watched amazed as she finished the sealing, already itching to try it for himself. "How do you get it back out?" Tayuya smirked and placed a hand onto the paper.

"Easy; Just channel a little bit of your chakra into the paper and focus on the location of what you want to pull out. This is the most important part, as you usually have a lot more weapons in one scroll than a single kunai." Her fingertips glowed a light blue, and almost instantly, the knife popped back up from the paper, removing the kanji and circle along with it. She spun it around on her finger by the loop a few times before tossing it to him with an smug grin. "Your turn."

Naruto wasted no time in grabbing the kunai out of mid air and placing it on the floor in front of him. He then haphazardly wrote 'unseal kunai' on the piece of paper she'd just finished using and began to channel a bunch of chakra into the weapon. Unfortunately, the weapon refused to sink into the paper like Tayuya had done only a minute ago, and he let loose a frustrated sigh.

"It's not working!" he groaned, crossing his arms with a childlike pout. The redhead snatched the kunai from his hand with a glare, holding it at eye level with experienced fingers.

"Dumbass, weren't you paying attention? I didn't pump every ounce of my fuckin' chakra reserves into the kunai. The idea is to surround the item in a thin veil of chakra and _maintain_ it, not shoot a huge a blast into it all at once." His eyes widened in understanding, and he plucked the knife from her fingers to try again. At first, nothing happened. Gradually, however, a growing sheet of chakra began to expand and grow over the kunai, enveloping it in a light blue haze.

"Like this?" he asked. She leaned closer to study the weapon before slowly nodding her head, surprised that he had the chakra control to pull it off.

"That looks about right. Try to seal it into the paper." Nodding, the genin carefully placed it over the kanji. To his obvious relief, it immediately began to sink into the paper until a circle similar to Tayuya's appeared around the kanji.

"It worked!" Naruto's grin threatened to split his face in half as he hopped to his feet and held the paper up into the air, abundantly proud of his achievement. Tayuya put on a tiny smirk of her own at his antics, but quickly covered it up with a frown.

"Not yet it hasn't. You still haven't pulled it back out." The blond stopped in the middle of his celebrating and matched her frown with one of his own.

"Oh, yeah." He plopped down onto the floor and channeled some chakra into his hand. Being careful to keep his chakra output to a minimum, he gently placed his fingers onto the piece of paper. A small cloud of smoke popped up from the card, revealing the kunai he'd sealed a few seconds before.

"You did it!" the girl cheered, clapping him softly on the back. Naruto timidly scratched the area directly below his nose and beamed.

"Only because you told me how. You're a way better teacher than these stupid scrolls!" Tayuya blushed prettily at the compliment. It felt good to be useful to someone, even if it was for something as simple as sealing a kunai. Hell, in the end, she hadn't even been useful to Orochimaru or the rest of her teammates. Not that she cared too much about their deaths, since each and every one of them had been an all around asshole to her for the past seven years. While lost in her thoughts, she failed to notice that the blond had leaned forward onto his hands to stare curiously into her eyes.

"What's wrong with your face? Are you sick?" he asked, barely four inches away from her face. Recoiling in shock, she opened and closed her mouth a few times in surprise, looking very much like a fish out of water. How the hell had she allowed him to get so close without her realizing it?! It was unusual to have someone invading her personal space so audaciously, and thinking quickly, she grabbed her crutch and used it to push herself up onto her feet.

"W-what the hell are you talking about?! I'm just hungry!" She walked towards the kitchen as fast as she could on her weakened legs and immediately set about heating up the tea kettle, leaving a very bewildered Naruto in her wake. He slowly stood up and followed her into the kitchen area.

"That's weird. My face doesn't turn red when I'm hungry. Are you sure you're not sick?" While he spoke, he gently placed his palm against her forehead. "You are sick!" Tayuya's face reached a whole new level of redness. Not only was he nearly flush against her body, but he was _touching _her! The uneasy feeling in the bottom of her stomach was starting to make her physically sick, and using as much strength as she could muster, she roughly pushed him away from her.

"I-I'm fine! Don't touch me!" she stuttered, cursing herself for being so feeble. "Just...just get the fuck away from me!" The blond blinked in confusion and took a cautious step towards her.

"Tayuya? Wha-"

"I said go away!" An awkward silence settled over the room, the only sound being the quiet bubbling of the water in the teapot. Naruto lowered his head in dejection and stared sadly at the overwrought form of his teammate. He didn't understand what he'd done; one minute they'd been smiling and laughing, and the next she was yelling at him. His frown deepened when he realized that she hadn't yelled at him with such an afraid expression on her face since their encounter with the Sound nin. With a heavy sigh, he reluctantly turned to walk back to the other side of the room.

Standing in front of the stove, Tayuya felt her eyes burning with unshed tears. She was more angry with herself than she was with Naruto, and wanted more than anything to tell him that it wasn't his fault; to tell him that _she_ was the one to blame. It just wasn't in her nature to apologize, let alone _cry_. She watched him continue his practice from the corner of her eye, wincing slightly at the gloomy frown marring his normally happy face. The shrill whistle from the teapot drew her eyes away from the depressed teenager, and she mournfully poured the hot water over her cup of noodles. Carrying the ramen in one hand, she hesitantly walked over to the blond and sat down beside him.

She stirred the noodles with her chopsticks a few times before lifting a small bite to her mouth. For the most part, her appetite had left her, and it took an incredible amount of willpower to scoop another serving of the salty food into her mouth. The tight constricting of her throat was making it incredibly painful to swallow.

He finished sealing the kunai for the fourth time and screwed the top back onto the ink bottle before shooting the girl a wide grin. "I wanted to visit all my friends to tell them that I was leaving. You don't have to go if you don't want to." Tayuya frowned at his strained smile and set the cup down onto the ground. It was somewhat obvious that he didn't want her to tag along while he visited his friends. What escaped her was his reason for not wanting her to go. He wasn't _that_ upset about her yelling at him, was he?

His eyes were squinched into slits, hiding his emotions and thoughts from view. She stared at him a moment longer before setting her mouth into a firm, angry line. There was no way in hell he was going to leave her cooped up his stuffy apartment while he got to gallavant around town with his friends.

"I'm gonna change."

She hefted herself up onto her feet and walked back towards Naruto's room, leaving a nearly untouched cup of ramen on the floor. As soon as he was sure that she couldn't see him, the blond's smile dropped almost instantly. He stared down at the uneaten noodles and sighed. It went against his nindo to leave a perfectly good batch of ramen uneaten, so with a quiet 'Itadikimasu,' he grabbed her chopsticks and shoveled a mouthful of the salty treat down his throat.

For some reason, it was incredibly painful to swallow.

------------------------

Watching Uzumaki Naruto interact with his friends was nothing less than sickening. His mouth was stretched much wider than humanly possible, exposing his sharper than normal canines and every single one of his twenty-eight teeth.

What was even more sickening was the fact that his friends failed to notice the strained smiles and laughter of the boisterous blond, because in her opinion, they were frighteningly easy to see. Then again, she was probably just being overly paranoid because he hadn't spoken more than ten words to her since they'd left his apartment.

The reactions of each of his friends when he arrived was eerily similar; Surprise, then anger, then curiosity, followed by jealousy, and finally happiness. The only ones who hadn't shown all of the aforementioned emotions had been Shikamaru, Shino, Tenten, and Lee; Lee, Tenten and Shino because they didn't know that she was one of the Sound Four (yet, anyway), and Shikamaru because it would've been too troublesome to give any kind of reaction. Or so he'd said, anyway. Strangely enough, they hadn't been able to find any of the Rookie Nine girls, and spent approximately two hours walking around the Southern part of the village in search of them.

After nearly five hours of looking for and talking to the Rookie Nine (Minus Sasuke, plus Team Gai), both teens were almost ready to call it quits; Tayuya more so than Naruto. The blond ball of energy was literally itching to visit the Hyuuga mansion to talk to Neji and Hinata about the training mission, and if it weren't for the fact that their home was on top of _the_ largest hill in Konoha, she wouldn't have had a problem with making one last stop.

"There's no fucking _way_ I'm going up there," She said, gaping up at the hill with no small amount of trepidation. The boy turned to her with an annoyed expression, the grin he'd been sporting for the better part of the day completely wiped off of his face.

"That's why I said you should stay home." Surprised, Tayuya snapped her head around to look at the normally cheerful blond. His tone of voice was a mix between cold and bitter, and he stared back at her with slightly resentful eyes. After recovering from her initial shock, the redhead clutched her flute tightly in her left hand before meeting his gaze with a heated one of her own.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Her voice was low and dangerous as she glared over at him, but he only shrugged unsociably and turned back towards the hill.

"It means you should just go home." He slowly began to walk up the steep hill, scaling it without giving her a backwards glance. She watched him walk away in a mild state of confusion. Not once in the last three weeks she'd known him had he ever used such a hostile tone of voice with her; not even when she'd insulted his friends, dreams, or sexuality. She quickly reeled in her emotions and grit her teeth with anger. _No one_ talked to her like that, even if it _was_ sort of her fault.

"Well, fuck you then!" she screamed at his back. "I don't need some weak, shitty rat like you anyway!" Turning on her heel, she limped off in the opposite direction, radiating killing intent strong enough to scare anyone below jounin level.

"That cocksucking bastard," she murmured, still speeding along the sidewalk. She didn't know where she was going, but as long as she was far away from Naruto, it didn't matter. "How dare he talk to me like that! Doesn't he fucking know who I am?! Next time, I'll put him in a genjutsu so bad his shriveled up balls will drop!" Anyone who happened to be walking by wisely avoided getting in the angry girl's way, and she petulantly stared down anyone who didn't.

In her mad rampage through the streets of Konoha, she failed to see the woman that had accidentally stepped in front of her. Being the weaker of the two, Tayuya was instantly sent sprawling to the ground, falling hard on her backside and dropping her crutch in the process. She groaned and rubbed at her bottom before checking to make sure that her flute was okay, leaving her other hand to brush the dirt off of her pants.

"Oh, that's just fucking _great_! Watch where you're fucking going, you --"

"Tayuya?" the woman asked, staring down at the girl with concern. The genin's head snapped up in surprise at the voice. "I'm so sorry! Here, let me help you up." Bending down, Shizune easily hefted the redhead to her feet, brushing off some of the dirt that she'd miss.

"Oh...thanks." She nodded towards the medical ninja and quickly continued on down the street. Maybe if she could get away fast enough, the woman wouldn't ask about--

"Where's Naruto-kun?"

Damnit. Glancing over her shoulder, she shrugged carelessly and scowled.

"Damned if I know. He's probably off playing grab ass with his faggot friends or something." Being an experienced shinobi (and a woman with common sense), Shizune easily saw through Tayuya's guise. Something bad had happened between them, and thinking quickly, she came up with a plan to squeeze as many details as she could out of the genin.

"I was just about to grab some lunch. Would you like to join me? My treat!" she said, smiling widely at the fuming girl. Tayuya glared suspiciously at the the black-haired woman for a few moments, analyzing every ounce of her expression for clues as to her motives. People just didn't offer to buy someone else lunch out of the blue; especially if they weren't even friends.

"No, that's okay. I'm just gonna go to the training grounds and-"

"Nonsense!" Shizune grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the nearest diner. "A growing girl such as yourself can't be skipping meals. How else are you going to _develop_ into a woman?" A faint blush appeared on the girls cheeks as she was coerced into taking a seat at one of the booths near the window. She had to admit that the medic-nin had a good point (not that she cared about those kinds of things), and she _did_ skip breakfast that morning.

Besides, the restaurant didn't look like that bad of a place to eat. Shinobi and civilians alike sat at the red cloth colored tables, chatting and laughing amongst themselves about the most trivial of things. The walls were painted a bright eggshell white, and the floor was tiled with varying shades of red and black. It was completely different than any of the restaurants in the Sound village's many bases -- mostly because it was actually _clean_. She hesitantly picked up one of the large, red colored pieces of paper resting on the table and began to look it over.

"So," Shizune started, simultaneously looking over the menu, "How are your legs feeling?" Tayuya glanced up long enough to meet her eyes before hiding her face back behind the card. It was her first time eating at such a high-end place (to her, anyway), and to be honest, it was a little nerve-wracking.

"Better." As if accepting the answer, the woman nodded and lowered her menu to the table.

"That's good. Has Naruto-kun been helping you recuperate?" The redhead bristled slightly at the mention of the Kyuubi container's name; a fact which didn't go unnoticed by the Hokage's apprentice. Tayuya cleared her throat noisily and acted as disinterestedly as she could to ease the woman's curiosity.

"Nah, that fucker's not good for much." She lowered the piece of paper and met Shizune's curious gaze. "What can I get?" Shizune stared at her confusedly for a few seconds before a look of understanding passed over her face.

"Oh, anything you want! It's my treat, after all." She suddenly leaned forward onto her elbows until her nose was almost touching the girl's and smiled mischievously. "But only if you tell me what's going on with you and Naruto-kun." The redhead bit back a curse. She _knew_ something like this would happen. Although she wanted nothing more than to tell the woman to go fuck herself, her stomach had other ideas. The aroma of the food coming from the kitchen was like a powerful drug, compelling her to blindly agree to the wicked witch's demands. Crossing her arms under her chest, she scowled and sat back in her seat.

"I can order _anything_?" she asked, glaring at the evil woman sitting across from her. Shizune's grin widened as she nodded her assent. "Fine. It's not like I give a shit about it anyway." With an ecstatic squeal, the medic-nin motioned for one of the waitresses to come over to the table.

"Hi!" the waitress chirped as she skipped over to the table, "What can I get for you?" She held a small pen and pad in her hands, waiting anxiously to take their orders. Her big green eyes shone with an innocence only seen in normal civilians, and her long black hair seemed to shimmer with every small movement she made. Tayuya sniffed in slight jealousy at the woman's generous 'assets' before nearly shoving the menu into the waitress's face.

"I want this, this, two of these, four of those, this, this, and the biggest cup of tea you got," she yelled, pointing excitedly to various items on the menu. She smugly glanced over towards Shizune to gauge her expression, and much to her annoyance, she didn't seem phased in the least.

"Oh...a-and you miss?" the waitress asked, more than a little surprised at the redhead's large order. The medic-nin just waved her hand and smiled.

"A cup of tea will be fine, thank you." Bowing to the kunoichi, the woman hurriedly skipped away from the table to relay their orders. As soon as she was out of hearing distance, Shizune leaned forward again and lowered her voice.

"So, what happened? Start from the beginning."

"I fucking told you, it wasn't that big of a deal!" Shizune frowned and crossed her arms unbelievingly, shooting the girl a stern glare.

"Talk." Tayuya hung her head and sighed.

"Well, I was teaching him how to seal a kunai, and then...I _kind_ of yelled at him." When the woman's frown deepened, she quickly held out a hand. "But it wasn't my fault! He deserved it!" Frowning disbelievingly, Shizune lifted a curious eyebrow.

"What did he do?"

"I don't know, he was too close! He was like two inches away from my face, so I told him to back the fuck off," she said, a small blush appearing on her face.

"That's all? I don't think Naruto-kun would be upset over something that small. What _exactly_ did you say?" Tayuya averted her gaze and scowled.

"I can't remember." Nodding cordially to the girl, Shizune stood up from the table. "H-hey! Where the hell are you going?" Taking slow steps towards the door, she glanced over her shoulder nonchalantly.

"If you're not going to be honest, then I'm not paying for your food."

"But I don't have any money!"

"Sounds like a personal problem. Bye!" Tayuya felt her stomach painfully constrict in hunger once more, and gritting her teeth in agony, she lowered her head in defeat.

"Fine! I told him to go away, and not to touch me. That's it, okay?" Shizune turned around with a sad smile on her face.

"Oh, Tayuya...is that all?" When the girl nodded, she seated herself and compassionately grabbed one of the redhead's hands. Surprised by the strange feeling, Tayuya quickly pulled her hand out of the woman's grip and placed it in her lap. "I see you're not used to human contact. Is that why you yelled at Naruto-kun?" She stiffened slightly at the accusation but slowly nodded again, evoking an angry sigh from the medic-nin. "That Orochimaru...look, Tayuya, I know you might find this hard to believe, but Naruto-kun isn't used to affectionate human contact either."

"Bullshit!" The girl yelled, drawing the attention of nearby diners. Most of them frowned at her use of obvious profanity, but a few looked over at her with a curious gaze. She scowled back at them and lowered her voice. "He has plenty of friends! How the _fuck_ can he not be used to human contact?!"

"Yes, he has a lot of friends _now_, but that wasn't always the case. He didn't have _anyone_ until he graduated from the Academy." Tayuya skeptically narrowed her eyes. This shit wasn't making any sense.

"What the hell does that have to do with _me_?"

"I know you didn't mean to, but you probably hurt Naruto-kun when you told him not to touch you. He's been told that for the majority of his life, and hearing it come from someone he considers a friend probably cut him deeper than any of the words that could ever come from the villagers."

"No fucking way! What about that pink-haired bitch? From what I hear, she tells him to fuck off all the time! Why does he get upset when _I_ tell him to!" A small, devilish smirk appeared on the woman's face, immediately setting the girl on edge.

"Perhaps he considers you more of a friend than Sakura-chan." Tayuya frowned thoughtfully, resting her chin on her hands.

"Still, how can he call _me_ a friend? I haven't done shit for him in the whole three weeks that I've been here!"

"Yes you have; unlike most of the other people who know his secret, you see him as _Naruto_ -- not as the...well, you know. I'm not telling you to apologize, but at least let him know why you said the things that you did." The redhead sighed and stared contemplatively out of the window.

"Friend, huh?" For Tayuya, it was extremely hard to believe that someone would ever consider _her_ one of their friends. Although she'd never admit it in a million years, she honestly didn't think that she had any redeeming qualities whatsoever. She was rude, foulmouthed, callous, and uncaring towards everyone and everything. What the hell could _anyone_ ever see in her?

At that moment, the waitress returned with a large tray of food, stacked high with sushi, dango, rice, cake, and an assortment of other different things. Shizune's smile dropped as she eyed the large amount of food, and she looked over at the girl with a incredulous expression.

"...Are you really going to eat all of that?" she asked, her eyebrows inching higher with each plate that was set down in front of them. The redhead excitedly lifted her eyes to meet the medic-nin's own. She couldn't explain it, but for some reason, she'd been annoyingly hungry for the last couple of days.

"Hell fuckin' yeah I am."

------------------------

Naruto scaled the hill with relative ease, gradually building his smile with each step. He really hadn't meant to be so mean to Tayuya, and was deeply regretting letting her go off by herself. There was no guarantee that there weren't any more Sound ninja in the village, and for all he knew, one could be attack her right now! Panicking, he quickly turned on his heel to head back down the hill.

"Naruto? What are you doing here?" The blond froze mid-step before slowly turning around to see Hyuuga Neji approaching from the other side of the hill. Immediately, he pulled a wide foxy grin onto his face and sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

"Oh, hey Neji! I was just, uh, coming to see you!" The Hyuuga narrowed his eyes, causing a small sweatdrop to appear on the back of Naruto's head. While Neji had certainly mellowed out within the last few months, he could still be pretty intimidating when he wanted to.

"If I recall correctly, you were heading in the opposite direction."

"Yeah! Because I was...walking up the hill backwards! It's a secret training method Ero-sennin taught me!" Neji blinked stupidly at the blond for a few seconds. Surely Naruto didn't think he was dumb enough to fall for such an obvious lie. Sighing deeply, he shook his head and walked towards the high outer walls of the Hyuuga mansion.

"Follow me," he said, giving the boy no room for argument. Naruto glanced over his shoulder once more in defeat before hanging his head and following the prodigy onto the property.

Despite what he'd heard about the Hyuuga clan from others, he was surprised to find that the Byakugan users were actually pretty lax. The guards posted inside the walls of the compound only spared him a curious glance as he passed, and a few of them even gave him a nod recognition. Out of all the scenarios he had come up with in his head, this one was the least expected.

As he followed the long, concrete path leading to the front door, he visibly gawked at the large amount of flowers and trees planted throughout the yard. There were many different colors, shapes, and species littered throughout the yard, and if it weren't for the narrow walkway below him, he was sure that he would have gotten lost. A small clearing of the throat snapped him out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see Neji waiting impatiently on the steps in front of the door.

Seeing that he had his attention, he opened the tall oak door of the mansion and motioned for the blond to enter ahead of him. Naruto hesitantly stepped into the building and let loose an astonished gasp. If he thought the garden was impressive, the halls of the Hyuuga estate were positively breathtaking. The ceiling was every bit of twenty feet high, and the floors were polished to the point of gleaming perfection. Old pictures adorned the walls of the foyer, and remembering what he'd learned about the clan during one of Iruka-sensei's lessons (he wasn't asleep _all_ of the time), correctly assumed that they were the previous clan heads.

They walked for a few more minutes, making a turn or changing directions every now and then. Finally, the genin reached a large fusuma door.

"What's this?" Naruto asked, staring up at the door with no small amount of trepidation. He wasn't completely at ease yet being within the Hyuuga mansion, even if he had Neji as an escort. Especially since he knew that the older clan heads weren't exactly fond of him. Neji slid the door open and pointed towards one of the large pillows resting in front of a low table. The room was mostly empty, barring a few sculptures and plants positioned tastefully around the edges of the small guest room. A large screen window was built on the southern wall, giving them a perfect view of the lake in the backyard.

"Sit there." Nodding, the blond quickly plopped down onto the cushion, crossing his legs underneath him in the process. Neji did the same, and with an invasive stare unique to the Hyuuga clan, straightened his back to look Naruto directly in the eye. "What is your reason for coming here?" he asked, unable to hide the small bit of curiosity lurking in his eyes.

"Why did we have to come all the to this room? I could've told you outside." A sudden flash of fear passed over the normally stoic Hyuuga's face, but it was quickly covered up with a glare of indifference and a small clearing of the throat.

"It...it is safer inside." Naruto almost asked what he meant by safer, but the dark aura emanating from his friend was more than enough to shut him up.

"Oh...well, where's Hinata-chan? I have to tell her too." Naruto let loose a small breath of relief when Neji's expression changed into a thoughtful one.

"She...hasn't been feeling well. Rest assured, I will relay the message to her as soon as possible." Satisfied, the jinchuuriki nodded and leaned back onto his hands.

"I guess that's okay, even though I'd rather tell her myself. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I'd be gone on a training mission for three years. I'm leaving on Friday morning." The prodigy's eyebrows shot up behind his forehead protector, and except for a slight widening of the eyes, there were no other visible signs that he was at all surprised.

"I see. With Jiraiya-sama, I presume?" The blond slowly nodded again.

"And a couple of other people. I don't know who one of them is, but the other is a girl who's really good with genjutsu! She's kinda smart, too!" Neji's eyes narrowed at Naruto's strained grin, and he leaned forward onto his elbows. Threading his fingers in a very Sasuke-esque posed, he stared curiously into the blond's eyes.

"So, she's your friend? What rank is she?"

"She's a genin like me, and...she's not really my friend." The Hyuuga lifted a shocked eyebrow. Being a friend of Naruto himself, he knew exactly how magnetic the boy could be. The fact that someone, _anyone_, could avoid becoming one of his friends was more than hard to believe.

"She's not? Why?" Out of all the questions he was expecting, that one wasn't even on his radar. He blinked a few times to regain his thoughts and looked over at Neji with a confused frown.

"Well, because she doesn't like me, I guess."

"She doesn't? Why not?"

"I dunno, she just doesn't!"

"There has to be a reason." The prodigy nearly smirked at the range of emotions crossing over the blond's face. While most people wouldn't pick up on the subtle change in expressions, the Hyuuga clan specialized in reading their targets. This girl obviously had a large impact on Naruto, and being the good (nosy) friend he was, he would do his best to help the clueless genin out.

"There isn't!" the jinchuuriki yelled, becoming annoyed with the cross examination. He couldn't understand why Neji was so adamant about finding out what was wrong, or why the prodigy wasn't being fooled by his usually perfect mask.

"I think there is. Naruto, my eyes see everything. It is obvious to me that this girl is an important person to you, and you're hurt that she doesn't seem to want to be your friend. Am I correct?" Naruto lowered his head, hiding his eyes behind his bangs. The blunt way in which he said it made him feel even worse, and he turned his head to look out of the large window.

"I guess." Neji's lips twitched with accomplishment. Apparently, his skills hadn't dulled at all during his stay in hell (the hospital). He leaned back and crossed his arms, closing his eyes in thought. Although he probably wasn't the best person to be giving anyone advice on friendship, he'd certainly learned a few things by watching the interaction of people around him. After a few seconds of silence, he opened his eyes and regarded the blond with a stoic stare.

"It's not like you to just give up, Naruto. What happened to making everyone acknowledge you? What happened to becoming the Hokage? If you can't even make one girl become your friend, what kind of _man_ will you be?" Naruto snapped his head around to look at the Hyuuga genius, shock evident on his face. His shock soon gave way to sadness, and he looked down at his hands in defeat.

"But...it's not that easy! She said she doesn't want me around!" Becoming fed up with Naruto's angst, Neji slammed his fist onto the table.

"Damnit, Naruto, it's not supposed to be easy! Are you going to give up just like that?! You're even more pathetic than I thought! If she's really that important to you, fight for her friendship!" An eerie silence settled over the room after Neji's outburst, and neither shinobi spoke for what seemed like hours. Naruto slowly lifted his head to stare straight into the white eyes of his friend with a small, genuine smile on his face.

"Thanks, Neji." He slowly got to his feet and turned towards the door. "Sorry, but I got something that I need to do right now. Make sure you tell Hinata-chan for me!" The Hyuuga nodded, smirking as his friend slid the door open and sprinted down the hall towards the exit.

He then stared out of the large screen window to his left at the brightly shining sun, watching as it slowly revealed itself from behind a large cluster of clouds.

"Do your best, Naruto."

--------------------------------

An orange blur raced down the halls of the Hyuuga mansion, expertly navigating the pathways as if he'd lived there for years. Luckily, he'd had the foresight to pick out landmarks in each corridor just in case he was separated from Neji. He reached the front doors in a matter of minutes and threw them open before rushing past the surprised guards standing in the front yard. A few of them yelled for him to slow down, but by the time they began to run in his direction, he was already outside of the tall, metal gates and heading down the hill in the direction he'd come.

It had been just under an hour since they'd separated, and knowing Tayuya's current speed on crutches, there was no way she could've gotten very far. He speedily rounded the corner -- only to knock something soft and light to the ground.

"Goddamnit! Watch where you're fucking going, asshole! Shit, you Leaf motherfuckers just step out of fuckin'-"

"Tayuya?" The girl in question looked up to see Naruto staring down at her with concern, and for a second, she felt a strong wave of deja vu. There wasn't a trace of anger and coldness left on his face, and she inquisitively wondered what had happened in the hour she'd been gone. She grabbed his offered hand and easily hefted herself up to her feet, nervously avoiding his gaze as she stood.

Her heart rate unconsciously sped up as she replayed the events of the past hour in her head. As she'd ate, Shizune had been giving her tips and advice on how to approach Naruto about their fight. Being the hard head that she was, she had either ignored or rejected every one of the woman's ideas. Now that she was here, she was really starting to regret it. Just as she was about to open her mouth, the blond sighed loudly and put on a small smile.

"I'm really glad you're okay, Tayuya." The redhead blinked a few times in shock. The same sickly feeling in the bottom of her stomach from that morning was coming back full force, and she said the most intelligent thing she could in her current position.

"What?" Chuckling softly to himself, Naruto scratched the back of his head and widened his grin.

"I was kinda worried that someone might attack you or something, and I was just coming to find you." She frowned confusedly and narrowed her eyes.

"You always say you're worried about me. Why?"

"Why? Well, because you're my--" Suddenly remembering what had happened earlier, the blond quickly shut his mouth and changed the subject. "Uh, nevermind. So, why are _you_ here?" Taken aback by the sudden question, Tayuya crossed her arms under her chest and shot him a halfhearted glare.

"For the same reason. You can't do shit without me, and I just wanted to make sure you didn't get yourself killed. Not that I care if you die or anything." If it weren't for the fact that she would kill him on the spot, he would've laughed at her words. Maybe she did care a little about him after all. "I'm tired, and it'll be sundown by the time we walk all the way back to the other side of Konoha. Let's go home." She turned around and limped off in the opposite direction, fighting the persistent smirk that threatened to break out on her face. Walking along behind her, Naruto cheerfully watched her back, not bothering to hide his grin.

"Yeah, let's go home."

----------------------

If it was possible, the shower felt ten times better than it had the day before. She savored every second of it, knowing that in a couple of days she'd be on the road and forced to take baths in cold rivers and streams. After rinsing the soap off of her body, she turned the handle on the wall to save some hot water for Naruto and stepped out of the small stall. She didn't bother to dry herself off this time, and instead just slipped on the same shirt and boxers she'd borrowed the night before.

"Your turn!" Tayuya yelled, stepping out of the bathroom and closing the door behind her. The cool air in the apartment felt deliciously comfortable against her skin, and she stretched her arms high above her head to further intensify the feeling. If she wasn't careful, she could get too used to living in Naruto's apartment. She lowered her arms and slowly walked into the kitchen for a snack, nodding towards the blond as he passed her on his way to the bathroom. It hadn't even been three hours since she'd shared a meal with Shizune, and her stomach was already demanding food.

She grabbed a cup of shrimp ramen (It was one of the many flavors she'd never had the displeasure of tasting) and set it down next to the stove, filling the kettle with water before setting it down on the burner. As she waited, she listened for the sound of water splashing against the wall in the bathroom, signaling to her that Naruto had finally started his shower.

For a few minutes, the entire apartment was silent except for the gentle pitter patter of the shower. She was nearly caught of guard when the pot began to whistle and hiss, and with a swiftness only seen in shinobi, removed the kettle from the burner and poured a large amount of water into the cup of ramen. She stirred the salty noodles with her chopsticks a few times, helping the food along in its cooking. Just as she was about to lift a small amount of the food to her mouth, a loud banging was heard from the front door.

"Who the hell could that be?" Tayuya wondered aloud. She picked up her searing cup of ramen and slowly made her way towards the door. Since she was living in his apartment for free, the redhead figured that she could at least get the door for him. Placing her free hand on the doorknob, she slowly twisted it to her right, swinging it open to stare straight into a pair of cornflower blue eyes. Both teens stared tensely at each other for a few seconds, obviously surprised to see the other standing there. Finally becoming bored with the situation, Tayuya menacingly narrowed her eyes. "What the fuck do _you_ want?" she asked, eying the girl with no small amount of malice. There was something about the blond-haired girl that bugged her, and she couldn't help but feel that they'd met somewhere before.

"This is Naruto's apartment, right?" Ino asked, completely brushing off the redhead's question. She was fairly certain that this was where the blond lived, and seeing the girl's reaction to her question only confirmed her beliefs. "Is he here?" Frowning, Tayuya tightened her grip on the doorknob.

"I'm not obligated to tell you shit. Bye." Before she could close the door, the Yamanaka slammed her hand against the panel.

"I don't think you understand," she started, stepping forward into the apartment, "I'm here to see Naruto. Where is he?" Shocked by the girl's audacity, she moved directly in front of the aggressive blond. She didn't look to weigh more than a hundred and ten pounds, and even in her weakened state, she was certain that she could easily kick the girl's flat ass.

"No, I don't think _you_ understand, you piss-haired, air-headed valley girl. If you _ever_ do something like that again, _I'll kill you._" The two girls glared furiously into each other's eyes, daring the other to make the next move. After a few seconds of staring, Ino deepened her frown and glared down at the irritable kunoichi.

"What are you, his girlfriend or something?" Not expecting the question, Tayuya sputtered out the first thing she could think of.

"N-no! Fuck no!" A large, conspiratorial smirk spread across the blond's face.

"Oh, so you don't mind if I take him off of your hands then?" she inquired, leaning forward to further pressure the already off balance redhead.

"No, well, yeah, but...just shut up!" Unfortunately, they were so wrapped up in their conflict that neither one managed to sense the boy in question approaching from behind Tayuya.

"Ino-chan? What're you doing here?" he asked, a towel draped haphazardly over his shoulders. He was wearing a large pair of black sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt, and his hair was in a massive state of disarray. The redhead's grip on the doorknob tightened, and Ino swore she could hear the cheap metal bending under her fist.

"Ino-_chan_?" she spat, her face becoming even angrier than it had been only seconds before. Naruto nodded and put on his infamous foxy grin.

"Yep! She's the one that helped me pick out those flowers for you! She's really good at it, too!" Ino grinned modestly and stepped back from the doorway.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun!" She flashed Tayuya a smug smile, rubbing salt into an already festering wound. "Sorry for coming by so late, but I was wondering if we could talk for a little while." Ino glanced at the redhead again and frowned. "Alone." Every muscle in Tayuya's body was begging her to claw the girl's eyes out, and if it weren't for the fact that Naruto was standing right beside her, she would have done just that. How dare this bitch come out of fucking _nowhere_ and demand that Naruto give her the time of day! Not that she cared, of course. Besides, knowing him, he wouldn't want to talk to her any--

"Sure! Just let me put on my sandals!" Tayuya's jaw dropped open at how easily he agreed. She watched amazed as he slipped into his shoes and headed out of the door, giving her a wave and his trademark grin as he walked down the stairs with the blond succubus from hell.

So appalled at the quickness with which he'd accepted Ino's proposal, Tayuya didn't notice the crushed ramen cup in her hand, nor the copious amounts of scalding hot soup spilling over onto her fingers.

She did, however, notice the sinking feeling in her chest as she watched them leave.

------------------

Uzumaki Naruto and Yamanaka Ino strolled down the dark streets of Konoha. It was just as quiet as it had been the night before, and if it weren't for the lights beaming from the windows of the houses lining the streets, one would think they were the last two people in the village. A small, awkward silence settled over the blonds, and feeling slightly bad about leaving Tayuya alone in the apartment, Naruto shot her a curious glance.

"What did you want to talk about?" he asked, clasping his hands behind his head. Ino jolted a bit at the suddenness of his question, and she stared blankly at him for a few seconds before putting on a nervous smile.

"Nothing special, really," she lied, waving her hands in a disarming fashion. Noticing the dubious expression on his face, she hurriedly said the next thing that came to her mind. "So, that's Tayuya?" Happy to have something he could talk about, Naruto enthusiastically nodded his head.

"Yup! Those flowers really worked! It only took her a day to get better!" The girl's smile became strained as she remembered how hard she'd worked on that bouquet; only for the flowers to go to someone who was bitchy and unappreciative. Frowning a bit, the Yamanaka slowed her pace and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Did she at least thank you?" When the boy shook his head, Ino sighed agitatedly. Why he bothered to hang out with a girl like that was beyond her. Hell, if a guy she _didn't even know_ gave her a beautiful bouquet of flowers, she'd at least thank him before shooting him down. Deciding to make her concerns known, she furrowed her brows and glared at Naruto. "Then why do you even hang out with her? If she can't even open her mouth to thank you for going out of your way to buy her some flowers, why bother with her?" To her surprise, the genin's grin only grew.

"Because she's like me." Ino's eyes widened for a split second at his words. She turned her eyes to the sidewalk in front of them, contemplating what he meant by his statement.

As far as she knew, the two didn't have that much in common; although they were both loud and rude, Naruto was much nicer than the perpetually angry redhead. He didn't swear nearly as often as she did, and if he could, he'd always be there to lend a helping hand. Sure, he was stupid, but at least he genuinely cared about his friends and those close to him. From what she'd heard about the girl from Shikamaru, Tayuya was the complete opposite.

For one, she was much smarter than the average shinobi. Being able to keep up with the lazy chuunin in brainpower was no easy feat, and according to the deer herder himself, she could probably out maneuver him if the situation was life or death. Another thing she'd learned from her teammate was that the girl had an incredibly low opinion of other people -- especially since she had no qualms about insulting the Hokage to her face.

So what could he possibly mean by '_because she's like me'_? At that moment, she remembered what he'd said about Tayuya when they were in the flowershop. He'd called her strong-willed and independent, and he'd also mentioned that she didn't take shit from anyone. At least that explained the redhead's rudeness when she 'greeted' her at the door. Still, she found herself becoming increasingly jealous of the Naruto's new friend. She was just as, if not _more_, strong-willed than Tayuya, and much better looking too. To her, the girl looked more like a drowned sewer rat than an actual person.

"Isn't this where you live?" Naruto asked, snapping her out of her thoughts. Looking around, she realized that they'd walked all the way from his apartment to the Market District. She made a small guttural sound of disgust in the back of her throat. Her plan had originally been to win the boy over with her feminine charms, not get him to take her back home. Confused by her sudden frown, he leaned a little bit closer to get her attention. "Ino-chan?"

"Oh! Uh, yeah, thanks. But, I kind of wanted to hang out for a little while. Do you have time?" She batted her eyelashes for added effect. Unsurprisingly, he completely missed her attempt at being persuasive and smiled at her with an apologetic grin.

"Sorry, Ino-chan, but I really can't stay out too late. Me and Tayuya have to get up really early to pack and shop for supplies." Ino's eyebrows shot up at the mention of packing.

"Packing? For what?"

"Oh yeah, I didn't tell you yet!" Naruto exclaimed. "We're going on a three year training mission with Ero-sennin Friday! I'm gonna get really strong and bring Sasuke back, don't worry!" The Yamanaka felt her jaw drop open at this sudden piece of information. Her brain was going at a million miles an hour trying to process his words, yet nothing was making sense. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes to help herself relax.

"Hold on. So, you and Tayuya are going a training mission, _alone_, for three years?!"

"Huh? No, Ero-sennin and another jounin will be there too." Ino's eyes lowered to her feet. All of her plans, schemes, and ideas to turn Naruto into the perfect boyfriend were useless now that he was leaving, and she couldn't help but feel a large amount of hate for the foulmouthed redhead. "Anyway, I should probably get going. We're leaving Friday morning, so come see of us off, okay?" He hopped off of the front steps of the flower shop and jogged back towards the Residential District, waving an arm as he ran.

She could only watch as he blended in with shadows of the night, and after she was sure he was gone, she leaned heavily against the front door of the shop. Perhaps it was for the best. Maybe this was Kami's way of telling her that she wasn't ready for him yet, or that she needed to train herself in becoming a respectable kunoichi before she could even_ hope_ to be on the same level Naruto. She clenched her fist tightly in determination before raising it to the sky. She had a new goal now, and nothing and no one would stand in her way.

"I won't lose to you!" the blond yelled at the top of her lungs, staring decisively into the starlit sky. It felt great to scream to the heavens, and at that moment, she felt as if she was on top of the world. She'd train as hard as she could for the next three years, and when Naruto returned, he wouldn't know what hit him!

"Ino-chan? Is that you? Come inside before you catch a cold!" Her feeling of accomplishment thoroughly defeated by her mother's interruption, Ino dropped her head and sighed.

"Yes, mother."

---------------------------

Naruto skillfully scaled the stairs of his apartment building. It had only been a little over forty-five minutes since he'd left with Ino, but he was already worried that something had happened to her. Only one other person lived in the old, rundown building with him, and she was old enough to be considered dust. If an Oto-nin wanted to attack her, now would be the perfect time to try it. Not that Tayuya was completely defenseless; she _did_ have the use of both of her arms now, and could easily perform handseals or play her flute. Still, her legs weren't strong enough to support her if she had to make a run for it, and the ability to move was a shinobi's greatest defense.

He quickly unlocked the door and peered inside of the apartment. The light in the hallway was off, and except for a small glow coming from around the corner, the room was pitch black. he slipped off his ninja sandals and quietly made his way to the living room.

"Tayuya? Are you in here?" he whispered, tiptoeing into the room. The only light in the room came from a single lamp resting on the table near the couch, and as he got closer, he noticed a small shadow huddled against the arm of the beat up sofa. The redhead was curled up into a little ball, her hair resting haphazardly on the cushions. He kneeled down next to her head to see that she was fast asleep, her breaths coming in deep, even sighs.

As he watched her sleep, he forgot that she was a rude, foulmouthed kunoichi. Her lips were cutely puffed out into a small pout, and her face was softened into the perfect picture of comfort. Every now and then, she'd whimper and furrow her brows, mumbling something unintelligible as she moved to find a more comfortable position. He considered picking her up and moving her back to his bed, but remembering what happened the last time he'd gotten too close while she slept (She had a killer left hook), decided against it. Instead, he jogged into his room and grabbed both of their sheets and pillows.

Naruto spread his bedding out on the floor next to the couch, remembering her confession about being afraid to sleep alone. He then carefully maneuvered a pillow under her head and gently covered her with a bed sheet, being careful not to set off her violent reflexes. Satisfied with his work, the blond watched amused as she smiled and snuggled deeper into the chair, obviously a lot more comfortable than she had been only a few seconds before.

"You didn't have to wait up for me you know," he whispered, turning off the lamp and lying down on his own makeshift bed. There was something oddly comforting about having another person close by as he slept -- a feeling he didn't get to feel often, except during missions with his team, anyway. Yawning widely, he slowly closed his eyes and smiled.

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**AN: Sorry guys, I know it fails.  
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**Also, as many of you probably know by now, _Johnny G_ has left the world of fanfiction. I felt the need to show some respect towards a great author who has inspired me, along with many other fanfiction writers, to pick up the pen (keyboard?) and put their ideas onto paper (the internet?). I completely understand and respect his reasons for leaving, and for those who don't understand, well, _screw you_. I'm appalled that a few assholes think that he's selfish for giving up fanfiction to _pursue things that matter_, and am happy that most of his fans are giving him a proper sending off. Johnny G, you will be missed!  
**


	14. Chapter 14

**Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 14**

Tayuya and Naruto spent the majority of the next morning packing for their trip, opening and turning over every item in the apartment. She didn't really have anything to pack except for her flute and a few extra pairs of underwear, so she occupied herself with helping him seal individual cups of ramen into a large scroll.

Earlier that morning, she'd woken up to find him sitting cross-legged in his room surrounded by piles of clothes, weapons, and ramen. He'd been unceremoniously tossing random items into the large camping bag resting on his bed, and she frowned at the excessive amount of space he was wasting by not packing effectively.

After showing him the correct way to fold and place his clothes into the bag, she was eventually enlisted into helping him clean up and search through his apartment for items he wanted to take with him. To her surprise, the majority of the things he owned were technique scrolls and books 'borrowed' from the library, free weights, and posters of Konoha symbols. They both decided that it'd be best to leave the posters and free weights where they were for the time being, but the training documents could prove to be useful in the future.

The teens only stopped once during the entire morning, briefly leaving the house to grab a few bowls of Ichiraku Ramen for lunch. Ayame and her father had been depressed to hear about their departure (Tayuya swore she heard sobbing in the back room as they left), but were also excited that the two were going to become stronger shinobi of Konoha. To celebrate their journey, the old man gave them both an extra bowl of ramen, much to their obvious pleasure.

Before they left, Ayame pulled the redhead to the side and whispered something in her ear. Tayuya's face flushed a light shade of pink, and ignoring Naruto's curious stare, she stalked back home.

They worked well into the afternoon, managing to pack all of his clothes and weapons into his camping bag and seal most of his ramen into the roll of paper. The genin shared quite a few laughs along the way; mostly when it involved one or both of them tripping over an unseen item. For the first time since she'd joined the Sound, Tayuya found herself laughing with genuine mirth, and each time she struggled to wipe the humor-filled tears that were budding at the corners of her eyes.

Finally, after literally six hours of packing, Naruto and Tayuya sat tiredly on the couch, watching some obscure anime about an orange-haired shinigami and sword fighting. Her legs were curled comfortably underneath her as she reclined against the worn cushions of the chair, and she basked in the feeling of a job well done. She idly played with the edge of the large black shirt she'd borrowed from Naruto that morning.

Her own long sleeved shirt was a little smelly from over two days of wear, and she'd been forced to hastily wash it in the sink. To her dismay, it nor her pants were dry by the time they were ready to leave for the ramen stand. Being the generous idiot that he was, Naruto happily offered her one of his favorite shirts to wear for the rest of the day; a pitch black t-shirt with a small, red spiral directly in the center of her chest. He also gave her an old pair of orange shorts that they'd decided to leave behind due to its small size. Ironically, they fit her perfectly.

A sudden growl jolted her from her post-work glow, and she lazily glanced over at Naruto with a small smirk.

"Hungry?" she asked, noticing the starved expression gracing his whiskered face. To be honest, she was beginning to feel a little ravenous herself. The blond smiled sheepishly and nervously scratched the back of his head, a habit Tayuya was quickly becoming used to.

"Yeah, a little bit. Want some ramen?" The disgusted look on her face told him all he needed to know, and his smile dropped into a disappointed pout. It wasn't that she didn't like ramen; hell, she couldn't complain considering that she was getting to eat for free. Still, even a girl as undemanding as herself needed a little variety now and then.

"Fuck no, we've been eating that shit for three days straight!" She neglected to tell him that Shizune had treated her to an asian cuisine only the day before. "How about sushi?" He wrinkled his nose at the mention of raw fish.

"Ew, I don't like sushi. It always tastes spoiled."

"That's probably because you go to those cheapass places. I'll pick the restaurant; you just pay." Leaving no room for argument, she hopped to her feet and walked towards the front door, running her fingers through her messy long hair as she did so. Her legs felt nearly as good as new, and although she probably couldn't jump through the trees or run very fast, she was able to walk freely without the use of any kind of support.

Which was a _really_ good thing, considering that they were expected to leave the next day.

She heard a defeated sigh from behind her, and watched amused as he trudged to his room to grab his wallet. She waited a few minutes for him to emerge, and when he didn't appear, she frustratedly poked her head into his bedroom.

"Oi, Naruto, Hurry the fuck u--Whoa!" Bent over a small metal box, Naruto was hurriedly counting out a fuckload of bills and coins. There had to be at least 20,000 yen in his hand, and glancing into the box in front of him, there looked to be a whole lot more. "W-where the hell did you get all that money?!" He quickly slammed the top shut on the box and slid it back into the floor, placing the floorboards and rug back over the hidden compartment.

"What money?" He asked, doing his best to look innocent. She regarded him with a deadpan expression before pointing insistently at the area he had just covered up.

"_That_ money! What the fuck did you do, rob a bank?!" The blond quickly shook his head, eyes widening at the accusation.

"No way! I've just been saving this up since I was in the Academy. The old man gave me a weekly allowance for food and clothes, but because of the bastard fox, no one wanted to sell me stuff. So, I just saved it," he said, shrugging nonchalantly.

"How much is there? Do you know?" Most of her surprise stemmed from the fact that she believed him to be a poorer-than-dirt genin based on his clothes and choice of food alone. Now that she knew he was loaded, her mind quickly began to formulate a plan.

"I'm not sure, but I think there's around 750,000 yen left." If she was surprised before, Tayuya was positively floored now. "Anyway, I'm hungry!" he exclaimed, hopping to his feet and practically skipping out of the room. She stood there for a moment longer before shaking her head and following, already making a mental checklist of things she'd need to buy.

The streets were abuzz with action as they walked to the Market District. People were walking in and out of buildings, chatting on the sidewalk, and a few shinobi were even sprinting along the rooftops. The redhead was annoyingly aware of the heated glares they were receiving from the citizens of Konoha, but casually brushed (flipped) them off as she didn't want to cause any trouble before they left.

She was so caught up in giving the finger to the haters that she didn't notice the large beast of a man stalking boastfully in their direction. Naruto easily sidestepped the man, but unaware that Tayuya wasn't paying attention, watched surprised as she was sent barreling butt first to the ground for the third time that week. The man frowned and looked down at her from over the bridge of his nose. A large scar ran from his forehead down to his lower right cheekbone, and huge, rippling muscles protruded from the open sleeves of his weather-worn shirt. Behind him were two similarly built guys, and both had matching grins etched cockily into their faces.

"Watch where you're going, demon's bitch!" he spat, bringing his foot up to step on her. By now, people were already beginning to mumble and whisper amongst themselves, curious as to what was going to happen next. Would the Kyuubi tear the man apart for threatening his mate, or would he allow the girl to be hurt? With an effort-filled grunt, the man speedily dropped his foot towards her abdomen.

To his and the crowd's surprise, the petite redhead easily caught his sandal-covered foot with her left hand. She slowly sat up onto her knees and lifted her head to glare at the thug with a large amount of killing intent. So much for not causing trouble.

"Oi, who the fuck do you think you're talking to, bastard?" she hissed, gradually increasing the pressure of her hand. The man's eyes widened in pain as she crushed his foot with just her hand, and he let loose a loud scream of agony when she let go. She calmly stood to her feet and regarded his lackeys with a bored glare. "You fuckers want some too?" Angered by her words, the two men pulled out a kunai each and rushed with the intent to kill.

"Tayuya! Watch out!" Naruto yelled, moving to stop the men from hurting her. Glad to have some action, Tayuya only smiled sadistically and opened her arms wide. As soon as they were close enough, she flipped backwards onto her hands and brought her feet up to connect solidly with their chins. Before they could stumble back in pain, she grabbed their heads and slammed them together, causing a loud cracking sound to be heard throughout the entire district. They hit the pavement with an earth-shattering thud, and if it weren't for Naruto grabbing her arm and pulling her away from the fallen men, she would've hopped squarely onto their windpipes and killed them.

The leader of the group stumbled to his feet and grabbed his partners in crime before dragging them away from the scene. "You...you monster! You demon wench! You won't get away with this! Danzo-sama will kill you, you hear me?! Kill you!" he yelled as he limped off in the direction the Hokage tower. Tayuya placed her hands on her hips and laughed boastfully, exposing her sharp canines to the gasping villagers.

"Go ahead, I'll fuck his ass up like I did to you! As a matter of fact, y--hey!" her tirade was cut off when Naruto slung her over his shoulder and took off in the opposite direction. "Put me down! C'mon, let me finish em!" She swung her legs wildly in the air as she screamed, and the blond struggled to keep from dropping her flat on her face.

"Hold still! We have to get away before the ANBU show up!" She finally quieted down at the mention of the elite guard of Konoha, and when he was sure that she wouldn't cause any more trouble, he gently set her back down on her feet.

"That's not fair, you know. It was those shitty bastards who started the fight! You shouldn't let them walk all over you like that!" Naruto only smiled wryly and shrugged.

"I know. That's why I'm working so hard to become the Hokage! I'll get them to recognize my existence, and then I'll make sure that everyone gets treated fairly by myself!" Tayuya blinked her eyes in mild surprise before shaking her head and snorting under her breath at his proclamation. She'd nearly forgotten about his goal to become the Hokage, and hearing him say it now, she actually sort of believed him.

Sort of.

She glanced at the area surrounding them and realized with some amusement that they were standing right in front of a large plethora of different restaurants. Grabbing his shoulder, she turned him towards the entrance to a sushi shop.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll believe you when you actually do it. Now go buy me some sushi!" At the mention of going into the store, he suddenly stopped cold and lowered his head. When he didn't move, she poked him in the back and frowned. "What?"

"Well...I'm not allowed to go in here."

"Why...oh," she said, a look of understanding passing over her face. She crossed her arms and sighed. She couldn't wait to get out of this discriminatory shithole. "Well, how about this; I'll go in, get a menu, and bring it back out here for you to look at. We choose what we want, you give me the money, and everything's honky fuckin' dory. What do you think?" A large, foxy grin broke out on his face at her idea.

"Sounds good to me!" She nodded her head and casually stepped into the restaurant, shooting him one more backwards glance before closing the door behind her. Already bored without anyone around to talk to, he leaned against the wall and stared up at the cloudy sky.

--------------------

Hyuuga Hinata stomped through the halls with frightening force. Her face was the picture of the determination, and her fists were clenched tightly at her sides. She was on a mission; a mission to make one Uzumaki Naruto hers. The branch members looked on in surprise as the normally quiet girl literally blew the wide double doors of the foyer open, and she couldn't stop a small smirk from spreading over her face at their expressions.

For the past three days, she'd been bitching, moaning, and crying alone in her room, only leaving to eat or use the toilet. It was safe to say that she stressed over the recent appearance of a potential rival. The redheaded bitch had given her numerous bruises on on her wrist, something she hadn't discovered until she'd gone to wash up that night. She was shocked at the strength of the strange girl, and believing it was impossible to beat her, cried herself to sleep.

It wasn't until she'd looked at Naruto's picture that morning that she remembered his words from the Chuunin Exams. She remembered how he'd cheered her on that day, telling her to never give up until the very end. Although she hadn't been awake to see it herself (something she cursed herself for to this very day), she also recalled how he'd beaten Neji during the third round of the same exams. He hadn't given up then, and she wouldn't give up now!

She reached the door of the mansion in record speed, and gripping the handle with a strength comparable to that of a one ton gorilla, threw it open and stepped outside--only to run headfirst into her cousin Neji. He'd just been about to open the door, and was thoroughly surprised when it was ripped open in front of him. Luckily, both had the reflexes to maintain their balance and avoid a very painful fall down the somewhat high stairs leading to the front door. Neji was the first to recover, and he stared down at his younger cousin with concern. Her face was twisted into a frown, and her overall aura was vastly different than what he was used to.

"Hinata-sama? What's wrong? Where are you going?" he asked, visually checking her over for injuries. Hinata rubbed her head to get rid of some of the dizziness, wincing at the sore spot on her forehead that had developed from their collision. Not wasting any time, she pushed the boy out of the way and continued on her warpath to her love's apartment.

"Not now, Neji-nii-san, I'll explain later!" Thrown off guard by her forcefulness, Neji followed after her with a frown of his own.

"Wait, there's something I must tell you before you go." He placed a hand on her shoulder to slow her down a little, but immediately regretted it when she slowly turned around with infamous Hyuuga glare. The veins around her eyes were literally pulsing with chakra, and the murderous frown marring her lips caused a small lump to form in his throat.

"Neji-nii-san," she started, emanating a violent aura of killing intent, "Remove your hand from my shoulder this instant or I'll cut it off, deep fry it, put it on a silver platter, and serve it to your teammates with soy sauce on the side." When it became obvious that he was too astonished to move, Hinata ripped her shoulder out of his grip and hurried on down the path, leaving a very confused and afraid Neji in her wake. He stared after her for a few minutes until his mouth finally decided to move.

"What the fuck just happened?"

As soon as she was outside the gates of the Hyuuga estate, Hinata took off towards Naruto's apartment at full speed. Since they lived on opposite sides of the village, it'd take at least half an hour to get there on foot. Still, half an hour was a long time; who knew what kind of things that bitch was doing to her poor Naruto-kun?! Inspired by this thought, she reached the Market District in a speed never seen before in Konoha, arriving in just under ten minutes. Unfortunately, the traffic made it impossible for her to run through on foot, so with a mighty leap, she hopped onto the nearest rooftop and began her sprint anew.

Her legs were a blur as she jumped from roof to roof, and she used chakra on each step to give herself a boost. The crowd below her looked like nothing more than a monotone blur of brown and beige from her vantage point, and for the first time since she'd joined the Academy, she was happy as hell to be a ninja.

Suddenly, a bright yellow and orange blur from the corner of her eye caught her attention. She immediately skidded to a stop and backtracked, searching for the only spot of color in the whole village. Her eyes zeroed in on a lone boy leaning against the wall of a sushi restaurant, and with a predatory smile, she hopped down from building and landed a few meters away from.

"Naruto-kun!" she yelled, waving her arm as she approached him. The boy jolted at the sound of his name, and as soon as he turned those beautiful sky blue eyes upon her, she felt her brain melt and turn into mush.

"Hinata-chan? Hey!" He stepped away from the wall and clasped his hands loosely behind his head, giving her a grin he reserved for his friends. "What are you doing here?" To her complete and utter shock, every thought, plan, and idea she had disappeared as soon as he'd said her name. Her previous determination was now non-existent, and she was futility fighting to keep a blush from spreading over her cheeks and neck.

"A-ano...I was...looking for you!" she breathed, unable to meet his eyes. She wanted nothing more than to hide behind the nearest wall, but her nindo was repeating itself over and over in her head. She refused to give up just yet -- Naruto-kun _would _be hers. The blond raised his eyebrows as he stared down at her heavily breathing form.

"Looking for me? Why?" This was the hard part. This one moment would define the rest of her life. Either she would tell him how she felt and they'd live happily ever after, or she'd choke and live alone with forty cats in a small, one bedroom apartment. She took a few deep calming breaths before shakily opening her mouth to speak.

"I-I-I wanted...t-t-t-to t-tell you t-that..." she took one more deep breath and clenched her eyes shut, deciding to get it all out in one breath. "I really, really l-"

"Hey Naruto, I got the menu!" Tayuya yelled, emerging from the shop with a large piece of paper in hand. Hinata's eyes opened wide as her arch rival, a girl she didn't even know the name of, called the name of _her _love so casually. She felt her anger rising with each step the bitch took, and she grimaced with annoyance at the friendly smile plastered on the redhead's face.

"Cool, thanks! By the way, I want you to meet my friend Hinata-chan!" Time seemed to slow to a stop as their eyes met. Light brown eyes stared surprised into angry white ones, and for a moment, neither one of them moved. Tayuya's face gradually began to sink into a frown, and then into a scowl to match Hinata's own. As usual, Naruto was completely oblivious to the tense and heavy atmosphere surrounding them. "I've got an idea! Why don't we let Hinata-chan eat with us? The more the merrier, right?" Tayuya's jaw dropped at the suggestion, and she took an angry step in their direction.

"What? Fuck n-"

"I-I'd love to, Naruto-kun!" Hinata cooed, grabbing his arm in a semi-hug. It was taking every ounce of her willpower not to pass out on the spot (It was the first time she'd ever touched him, after all), but if Naruto-kun's heart was on the line, she'd do anything to win. Although her eyes were threatening to roll into the back of her head, she still managed to shoot her rival a smug glare.

"Great!" He grabbed the menu from Tayuya's frozen hand and held it out in front of him. "You can pick anything you want, I'll pay for it!" The Hyuuga's eyes widened considerably at the proposal, and she vehemently shook her head in disagreement.

"N-no, t-that's alright, you d-don't have to pay for me..." she stuttered, gripping his arm a little tighter. She ignored the low growl coming from the redhead's direction.

"Yeah, Naruto, you don't have to pay for _her_."

"It's okay, I've got plenty of money! See?" He held up a very fat Gama-chan, grinning foxily as he did so. Hinata eyed the wallet carefully, eventually nodding ever so slightly.

"W-well, if you say so..."

"Great! Tayuya, what do you want?" The redhead jumped slightly when her name was called, but quickly walked over to stand as close to Naruto as humanly possible. Two could play this game. She shot Hinata her own smug glare before leaning over directly next to him, close enough to feel his breath on her cheek. She reveled in the shocked stare she received from her enemy, and deciding to take it up a notch, she casually brushed her hand against his while she ran her finger down the list.

"Hmmm," she practically purred, taking her time, "I don't know, the nigirizushi looks good. What do you think, Hinata-_chan_? Or is this place too low-class for you?" Hinata narrowed her eyes at the jab. Tayuya wasn't the only one who could make subtle insults. Smiling sweetly, she mirrored Tayuya's pose and put on a thoughtful frown.

"G-gee, I'm surprised you even know what nigirizushi is!" When the former Oto-nin stiffened, the blue-haired girl smirked. "Personally, I like ch-chirashizushi the best."

"Oh my, don't you think that's a little too much?" Tayuya sneered, doing her best to sound as innocent as possible. "It's no wonder you try to hide your body under such a large jacket all the time!"

"At l-least it's better than walking outside in short shorts and a t-shirt. A girl should have _some_ m-modesty, after all." The redhead glanced down at her legs and frowned. The bright orange shorts she'd borrowed from Naruto came down to the middle of her thigh; as far as she was concerned, they were normal length. She felt a snarl build in the back of her throat, and with a sickeningly sweet grin, she casually ran her fingers through her long red hair.

"Says the girl who has a chicken's ass for a hairstyle." That did it. Hinata's Byakugan activated on its own, and she quietly leaned back to stare the girl squarely in the face.

"Say that again, please?" The redhead's eyes narrowed into fox-like slits as she bared her teeth.

"I don't believe I stuttered."

"Uh, how about we all just get makizushi?" Naruto cut in, holding his stomach with hunger. He didn't quite understand what the girls were talking about, but he did know that if he didn't eat soon he'd pass out. Both girls glared one more time at each before nodding.

"Whatever," Tayuya said, almost snatching the menu and Gama-chan out of his hand. She slowly walked into the small sushi restaurant, self-consciously pulling at the edges of her shorts along the way. As soon as she was out of sight, Hinata gently tugged on Naruto's arm to get his attention. She was still running off of the adrenaline from her small fight with the redheaded harlot, and knowing how hard it was for her to speak to her crush (Let alone confess), she quickly mustered up all the self-confidence she had in her small body.

"N-Naruto-kun..." He glanced down at her with a slightly concerned frown.

"What is it? Are you okay?" She nodded and gripped the sleeve of his black t-shirt a little tighter.

"Y-yes...I-I-I j-just wanted t-to tell you t-that...I really li-"

"Hey, Naruto, I forgot to ask what kind of condiments you wanted!" Tayuya called, sticking her head out of the door. Hinata felt her heart drop for the second time that day, and she was certain that Kami-sama had some sort of grudge against her. Without missing a beat, Naruto scratched at his chin in thought.

"Whatever they have, I guess." She nodded and slipped back into the shop -- but not before shooting the Hyuuga another withering glare. "So, what did you want to tell me?" he asked, turning back towards the slim girl. Hinata hung her head and sighed.

"Nevermind..." He eyed her strangely for a few seconds, but eventually just shrugged and plastered on that stupid grin of his. As much as she loved him for it, she sometimes wished that he wasn't quite so dense.

Five minutes later, Tayuya emerged with a large paper bag filled to the brim with containers of sushi. She wasted no time in gripping Naruto's free arm, not-so-discreetly sticking her tongue out at Hinata as she did so. As they walked down the street, the villagers looked on in amazement as Naruto, the demon brat, strode confidently down the sidewalk with a beautiful girl on each arm.

What was even more amazing was that one of them was the Hyuuga heiress! Still, the blond paid them no mind as he amiably chatted with the girls, talking about a wide range of subjects including training, jutsus, and (of course) ramen. Both girls took every chance they could to insult the other, and although she hated the girl with a fiery passion, Tayuya couldn't help but feel a tiny inkling of respect for the blue-haired genin. Not many people could go toe to toe with her when it came to name calling.

The closer they got to the residential district, the more uncomfortable Hinata felt. She knew there was something that she was missing, and she stared over at the other two with a critical eye. Suddenly, the bright red spiral in the middle of Tayuya's shirt caught her eye, and she nearly gasped out loud at the discovery. Only one person that she knew of owned a shirt like that, and he was currently standing directly to her right.

"T-that shirt..." she started, staring at it with a mixture of shock and anger. The redhead frowned and looked down at the garment, searching for anything out of the ordinary. When she didn't find anything, she lifted her head to glare heatedly at the shorter girl.

"Yeah? What about it?"

"Is...is that Naruto-kun's?" Misunderstanding the meaning behind the question, Naruto grinned and nodded.

"Yup! She didn't have anything to wear, so I lent her some of my stuff!" To her absolute horror, she realized that her rival was also wearing a pair of orange shorts; and absolutely _no one_ else in the village wore the color orange except for Naruto. Following her line of sight, Tayuya fought the urge to laugh. This was almost too easy.

"What's wrong, Hinata-_chan_? You look surprised! Is there something _strange_ about me wearing his clothes?" Her mouth still slightly agape, Hinata slowly shook her head.

"N-no, n-not at all." Inside, she was fuming. This...this..._whore_ who hadn't even been in Konoha for a month was already wearing his clothes! She felt herself burning with righteous anger as she imagined what kinds of impure things the girl had done to her Naruto-kun. Although he didn't seem all that different from usual, she knew something had happened between them; it was evident in the way they interacted with each other. Hinata gripped Naruto's arm tighter. She would protect him from that demoness; no matter what.

They reached his apartment in a matter of minutes. For her part, the Hyuuga heiress was excited. This was the first time she would ever get to see the inside of Naruto's home, and she swore to herself that it wouldn't be the last. They entered the small flat in a straight line, Tayuya leading the pack and Hinata bringing up the rear. The place looked almost brand new without all of the ramen cups, scrolls, and clothing scattered everywhere, and except for a few posters and plants resting on the wall, it sort of seemed like he was moving out soon. Still, Hinata didn't think much of it as she softly tapped her crush on the shoulder.

"A-ano...w-where's your restroom?" she asked, wishing more than anything that she could stop her stuttering. Naruto grinned (He did a lot of that, she noticed) and pointed to the door at his left. She nodded and quickly disappeared into the room, shutting the door quietly behind her.

"Does she really have to be here?" Tayuya asked as soon as he rounded the corner. She was already setting out the individual trays of sushi, and moved to his cupboard to grab some plates. The blond crossed his arms and gave her a small frown.

"Come on, Tayuya, can't you be nice to her? She's one of my precious people." The girl snorted and nearly slammed the utensils down onto the table.

"Is that why you add _-chan _to their fuckin' names?" she nearly spat, struggling to keep her voice neutral. To be honest, it had been bugging her ever since Ino had dropped by the night before. He raised his eyebrows slightly in confusion. It was obvious, even to him, that she was bitter about something.

"What do you mean by that?" The opening of the bathroom door interrupted her before she could reply, but she still managed to shoot him a small glare before plopping down on the chair to his right. When Hinata appeared around the corner of the hallway, Tayuya gave her a similar frown.

"Well, now that the _princess_ is here, let's eat." The redhead wasted no time in shoving ten of the small rolls onto her plate and digging in. Naruto slowly nodded his agreement, and with a loud 'Itadakimasu!', he quickly began working on finishing the large pile of sushi. Hinata did the same, albeit at a much more subdued pace. The room was quiet except for the occasional rustling of the paper bag, and all three genin wisely kept to themselves while they ate. Suddenly, the Hyuuga heiress glanced up at Naruto and smiled.

"N-Naruto-kun, are you thirsty?" she asked, proud of herself for not stuttering as much.

"A little bit, yeah. I think there's still some juice left in the fridge. I'll go get us some!" He started to stand up, but Hinata quickly placed her hand on his shoulder and stood up herself.

"N-no, let me." With a grace only inherited by royalty, she slid out of her chair and stepped over to the kitchen area of the living room. Tayuya watched her with narrowed eyes, and throwing her chopsticks down, hopped up to follow.

"I'll help. She can't carry all that shit by herself." The blond smiled at her attempt to be friendly and gave her a subtle thumbs up (Seriously, who did that anymore?) to say thanks. If only he knew what she was planning to do. She walked up next to the shorter girl and harshly jabbed her in the ribs, completely catching her off guard. Luckily, the cups were still resting on the counter top and were able to avoid an untimely demise.

"Listen, you little cunt," Tayuya whispered, keeping her voice low, "I don't know what the fuck you're planning in that duck shaped head of yours, but it ain't gonna work. Watch your step, bitch." She snatched the cups off of the counter and sashayed back to the table, leaving a bewildered and angry Hinata behind. Literally ripping the apple juice from the freezebox, she casually waltzed over to the table with a smile.

"H-here, N-Naruto-kun, let me pour you a drink." He smiled gratefully and held out his cup, not slowing down for a millisecond as he shoveled pounds of raw fish down his throat. She then moved to his right and started to pour the redhead a cup. Unfortunately, the liquid missed its mark by a ridiculously wide margin, and nearly a whole cup's worth of juice was poured squarely into Tayuya's lap.

"Y-you fucking bitch!" she screeched, hopping up from the table to prevent even more of the sticky liquid from touching her skin. "You did that shit on purpose!" Hinata lifted a coy hand to her mouth and gasped, secretly smirking behind her fingers.

"I'm so sorry, Tayuya-_chan_! I don't know what happened!" Just as the redhead was about to launch a furious fist towards the sneering Hyuuga's face, Naruto appeared with a small dishtowel in hand. He carefully began to maneuver the rag just over her waist, sopping up as much of the apple juice as he could before it could drip onto the floor.

Both girls blushed a deep red as they silently watched him wipe away the liquid, completely oblivious to the fact that he was dangerously close to her most...private place. For the first time in her life, Tayuya was absolutely speechless.

He stood up and admired his handiwork, smiling with satisfaction at her now (mostly) dry waist. Suddenly, the sound of something splashing against the hardwood floor grabbed both of their attentions. Hinata had 'accidentally' poured some of the juice on her chest, and doing her best impression of a damsel in distress, looked up at Naruto with big, innocent eyes.

"N-Naruto-kun, could y-you help me too?" The blond frowned slightly but nodded, turning around to face the furiously blushing Hyuuga princess.

"You really should be more careful, Hinata-chan," he said, wiping the juice off of her jacket. She raised her head and smiled smugly at Tayuya -- who was currently making threatening gestures from behind her teammate's back. Shooting her hand out towards the smaller girl, the redhead snatched the container of apple juice and poured some on her own shirt.

"Naruto, I spilled some more!" Hinata grabbed the juice out of her hands and pretended to accidentally splash some on her pants.

"Me too!" By now, both girls were wrestling for control over the twisted and deformed jug, sending the sticky substance everywhere. They shrieked as juice landed in their hair, mouths, and eyes, but neither of them loosened their grip for a second. Finally, Naruto snatched the unrecognizable piece of plastic from their hands and lifted it above his head with a glare.

"What the hell are you doing?!" he yelled, staring down at both of them with no small amount of anger and confusion. They at least had the decency to look embarrassed, turning their eyes away from his gaze. All three of them were sticky and wet, dripping apple juice on the floor below them. Naruto sighed heavily and tossed the empty container onto the table along with the leftover sushi. "Sorry, Hinata-chan...maybe you should go home."

Tayuya's eyes lit up at his words, and she was quick to throw in her own two cents. She stepped up to the blond's side to smile cockily at her rival, lightly hugging his arm to her chest. She was delighted by the tears that were slowly beginning to build in the corner of her rival's eyes, so she leaned her head against his shoulder as if marking her territory.

"Yeah! Go home to your fuckin' shithole of a castle!" Her smile was stretched widely across her face as she reveled in the familiar high she received from insulting others. Naruto angrily wrenched his arm from her grasp and glared down at her with disappointment.

"Tayuya, stop it!" The redhead looked largely taken aback at his sudden command. She glanced up into his eyes to see him staring heatedly back into her own, and she ashamedly turned her gaze down to her feet. Not because of what she'd said to Hinata; no, as far as she was concerned, that stuck-up bitch of a whore deserved every word.

It was because she'd let him down after he had practically _begged_ for her to be nice to Hinata for just a few hours.

"I'll walk you back, Hinata-chan." He started to take a step towards the smaller girl, but was nearly pulled back by the force of Tayuya's grip. She wasn't stupid; she knew _exactly_ what that Hyuuga was planning. It was exceedingly easy to see in the stares, smiles, and blushes that regularly emanated from Hinata whenever he was around. She'd be _damned_ if she allowed some spoiled rich girl to touch Naruto. Not that she was jealous, of course; she was just looking out for his best interests. They'd be leaving in under twelve hours, and if the blue-haired girl were to tell him how she felt right before they left, there was a chance he wouldn't want to go anymore.

At least, that's what she told herself.

"I'm going too," she mumbled, much to Naruto's surprise.

"What? Why?" Tayuya frowned and gripped his arm tighter, causing him to wince in slight pain. Her strength was somewhat terrifying.

"Since when do I need a reason?!" Their eyes met for a brief two seconds, long enough for a silent understanding to pass between them. He slowly nodded his head and walked towards the door, forcing another small smile onto his face as he approached the confused Hyuuga heir. Something had happened, but she just didn't know what.

"Ready to go?"

"Y-yes..." The trio quickly exited the apartment, and for the second time that day, Konoha's number one most surprising ninja had a beautiful girl on each arm. Granted, they were tugging him back and forth between them, but one usually overlooked such trivial details. They strode through Konoha at a rapid pace, barely talking except for the occasional comment or subtle jeer from one or both of the girls.

As they neared the Hyuuga Estate, Tayuya noticed that Hinata was becoming more and more nervous with every step. It wasn't until they'd scaled the hill that she understood why.

"N-Naruto-kun...she started, turning to face him full on. Rather than confess now with everyone (Tayuya) watching, she'd decided on an alternate course of action. "I-I-I w-was wondering if y-you'd like to go on a picnic with me tomorrow?" When his face dropped, she quickly moved to reassure him. "B-but I understand if you d-don't want to..." Both Naruto and Tayuya stared at her with a mildly surprised expression. Frowning, Naruto tilted his head to stare at her.

"Didn't Neji tell you?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Hinata snapped her head up in surprise. She vaguely remembered her cousin trying to tell her something earlier that afternoon, but she'd brushed him off before he could say anything. Sensing her curiosity (and underlying fear), Tayuya was quick to step in and answer her with a wide, sinister smile.

"Me and Naruto are goin' on a _three year_ training mission tomorrow._ Together._" The redhead swore she heard the smaller girl's heart break inside of her chest.

Ironically, she actually felt sort of bad for Hinata. She knew what it was like to have her heart broken, as that heartless bastard Misumi had done it numerous times before she'd gotten wise to his games. However, a larger part of her was cynically pleased with this new development. Maybe now, the wench would give up for good.

"O-oh..." Hinata mumbled, swallowing harshly to keep her throat from closing up, "M-m-maybe when you g-get back then?" Tayuya stared at the girl in silent shock, unable to believe that she'd wait so long for him to return. Sure, Naruto was an all around good guy, but to continue stalking him after being told that he was going on a three year journey with _another girl_? She was stupider than she originally thought! As expected, Naruto grinned and nodded.

"Sure thing, Hinata-chan!" Hinata smiled weakly and bowed, turning towards the large gates of the mansion.

"G-g-good n-night..." Her shoulders shook more and more as she approached the Hyuuga estate, almost as if she were shivering. She walked as best and quickly as she could up the long pathway, struggling to hold in the tears that were now rolling in rivulets down her cheeks. Luckily, none of the guards decided to stop and question her as she sped up the path; apparently, they remembered well what had happened earlier that afternoon.

"Good fuckin' riddance." Tayuya turned on her heel and pulled Naruto's arm, nearly uprooting the boy from where he stood. He sighed loudly and looked down at her with a frown as he allowed himself to be dragged down the hill.

"Tayuya..."

"I know, I know. Be nice cause she's one of your goddamn precious people. _Whatever._"

----------------

Hyuuga Hinata rushed through the halls of the Hyuuga estate for the second time that day. Tears were already streaming down her face, and she futilely wiped them away with the back of her hands as she ran.

It wasn't fair.

Why wasn't it _her_ that was going on the training mission with Naruto? Why did it have to be that foulmouthed redhead who got to spend everyday with her love? She'd been around much longer than the other girl had, and she'd _always_ admired the blond and his never ending courage and determination. Didn't _she_ deserve to grow stronger alongside him?

She sprinted through the doors that led to the main family's living quarters, ignoring the confused and startled looks from her family members. Quite frankly, she couldn't give less of a fuck what they were thinking at that moment. Her thoughts were focused solely on getting to her room and being alone; just her, her bed, and her economy-sized box of tissues.

After what seemed like hours of running, she finally reached the large ivory door of her bedroom. With a large amount of effort, she threw the heavy piece of wood open. She felt her body growing weaker and weaker as time wore on, and after closing the door behind her, collapsed onto her large, fluffy bed in a fit of sobs.

It was hopeless.

There wasn't a snowball's chance in hell that she could beat Tayuya as she was now. The redhead had three years; three long, fucking years to seduce and corrupt her Naruto-kun. Would she even be able to recognize the cheerful blond by the time he returned? In her mind, she imagined an older, black-haired Naruto with multiple piercings and tattoos all over his body. She couldn't allow that to happen, but what could she do?! They were leaving the next day!

All her dreams of dating, marrying, and eventually having children with the blond were slowly crumbling before her eyes. Where was Kami-sama when she needed him? She'd always been a good, kind person, and she always did everything she could to improve herself. Was this his way of saying that she was worthless? That she would never succeed no matter how hard she tried?

Out of tears and ideas, Hinata slowly drifted into unconsciousness, tossing and turning as she slept. It was going to be a long three years.

----------------

The moon brightly illuminated the darkened city of Konoha, pouring its rays into every dark corner of the village. Naruto and Tayuya slowly walked back home, both deeply immersed in their own thoughts. It had been a rough and trying night, but waltzing along under the full glowing moon and feeling the gentle breeze coming from the West was more than enough to calm them. The girl glanced up at the faraway expression on the blond's normally smiling face. She idly wondered what he was thinking about at that moment, noticing the slight smirk that appeared every few seconds.

Was he thinking about Ino? Hinata? Or maybe, he was thinking about her. The quiet night gave her a sudden bout of confidence, and pulling lightly on the arm clutched to her chest, she cleared her throat to get his attention.

"Ne, Naruto..." she started, nervously cracking her knuckles with her thumbs. "I'm...well, you know...sorry." She breathed with exertion, glad that she'd gotten what she wanted to say out before she lost her nerve. Apologizing was something she rarely did, and even then it was only to Orochimaru for messing something up. He turned his eyes away from the moon to stare curiously into her angular light brown eyes.

"For what?"

"You know! For everything! I... know it's not easy to be around me all the time, and I kind of do a lot of shit that I don't mean. Like yesterday." She darted her eyes up to read his expression, but found the same blank look on his face that he always had. Typical Naruto. "It...wasn't you. I mean, it wasn't because of the...you know. _That._" She cursed her mind for not being able to form a coherent sentence, and glanced up again to gauge his reaction. She frowned when she realized that he wasn't even looking at her; instead, his eyes were focused on the vividly glowing full moon above them. Her eyes lowered back to the ground as they continued along the dark streets. Neither of them noticed the pair of wide eyes watching them from the alleyway.

Although she refused to admit it to herself, she was a little hurt that he didn't say anything. Even if he declined her pathetic attempt at an apology, it would be better than the disinterested silence he was currently regarding her with.

"Thanks," he started, startling her with his sudden words. Her hair billowed out behind her as she snapped her head up to look at his mischievously grinning face. "Even though I kind of figured _that_ out when you kept on grabbing my arm." Automatically, her eyes dropped to where her chest met his arm. A full blush crept onto her face as she realized that she'd been hugging it ever since they'd left his apartment. She was so caught up in her competition with Hinata that she didn't even realize what she'd been doing! She quickly threw his arm out of her grasp and put on her best angry glare. Unfortunately, in her current flustered state, it looked more like a cute blushing pout. In the back of her mind, she noticed that she missed the warmth provided by his body.

"I-Idiot! I was just doing that because my legs felt tired! Don't get any perverted ideas!" Naruto's grin widened as he casually slung his slightly sticky arm over her shoulders.

"Aw, come on, Tayuya-chan! Does this look like the face of a pervert?" She jabbed him lightly in the ribs and snorted.

"No, it looks more like the face of an idiot." He hung his head in mock pain, sniffling loudly for effect. Unable to help herself, Tayuya quietly began to giggle. "You really are an idiot, you know that?" His demeanor immediately changed into a happy one, and he shrugged exaggeratedly and smiled. If he wasn't a shinobi, he might actually make a pretty good actor.

"Maaaybe, but I make up for it with my ninja skills!" This time, she full on laughed out loud, holding her stomach to keep her innards from spilling out onto the ground. If anyone had been outside to see them, the genin could have easily been mistaken for a young couple in love. Naruto stuck out his lower lip and frowned. "What?!"

"Nothing...nothing..." she chuckled, struggling to fight down her laughter. Fuck, she'd never laughed so much in her life! Sure, she'd laughed evily while decapitating or gutting enemy ninja, but this was a different kind of laughter. This time, she was genuinely filled with joy. If these past three weeks were any indication, she would thoroughly enjoy the next three years together with Naruto.

They settled into a comfortable silence after a couple of minutes, both lost in their own thoughts. Suddenly, Tayua stopped in the middle of the street to slowly look up at an inquisitive Naruto.

"Wait, did you just call me Tayuya-_chan_?"

----------------

"Danzo-sama! Danzo-sama!" A lone man slowly limped into the main throne room of the ROOTS base, sweating and gasping for breath. His large muscles were covered in a fine sheen of moisture, and his foot was wrapped tightly in a long strip of white gauze. Since he was one of the lowest members of the ROOTS organization, none of the medical ninja wanted to waste their chakra on fixing his foot. He was forced to rush he and his two friends to a regular hospital where they received adequate but time consuming treatment.

The old man sitting in a dark stone chair sighed and boredly spared the civilian warrior a glance. He didn't know why he bothered to recruit such weak and pathetic people.

"What is it?" he barked, already growing impatient with the quivering mound of flesh and bones. The injured man quickly bowed lowly before his leader and began to speak.

"It...it's about the Kyuubi, sir!" Danzo's ears involuntarily perked up at the mention of Konoha's jinchuuriki. The last he'd heard, the boy had been involved in killing an assassin from the Sound village, and had exhibited a substantial amount of the Kyuubi's chakra. He'd tried to push for the boy to be admitted into his organization, claiming that Naruto was a danger to himself and to those around him. To his annoyance, the Hokage had vehemently refused his offer, mentioning something about 'other plans.' He hadn't been able to find anything out about these plans, but perhaps this piece of cannon fodder could provide some insight into what that harlot of a Hokage was thinking.

"The Kyuubi, you say?" he started, a small, calculating smirk appearing on his wrinkled old face. "What about him?"

"He...well, it...it's not really about him..." The old warhawk felt his annoyance meter rising. Honestly, why the hell did he even keep idiots like this around?! "It's about his demon girlfriend!" Ah. That's why.

"Explain." The man nodded and slowly got to his feet.

"Me, Toketsu, and Zabi were walking down the street, minding our own business, when she just attacked us!" He emphasized the point by showing the older man his broken foot. "If I wouldn't have jumped in her way at the last moment, she would've killed them!" The old man frowned and leaned forward with mild interest.

"And how does she relate to the Kyuubi?"

"I just saw them on my way back from the hospital! She was hanging all over him like some kind of brothel girl! I bet the Kyuubi _told_ her to attack us!" Danzo stared at the mumbling man from over his interlaced fingers. Now that he thought about it, he remembered hearing from one of his ANBU spies that there was a redheaded girl at the scene of the assassination. There was a small chance that she was the same girl, and if so...

"Tell me, what does this girl look like?" he asked, his interest piquing for the first time in days. The man blinked, but quickly began to relay everything he knew about the murderous bitch he'd met earlier that day.

"Well..she has red hair...and I think brown eyes. She's kinda small; about the same size as the Kyuubi kid."

"Interesting. She must be a kunoichi, given how easily she brought three fully grown men to their knees." The younger man winced at the not so subtle insult. "Is that all?"

"H-hai, Danzo-sama." At that moment, a single kunai flew threw the air to pierce the crippled man right between the eyes. He fell back with a ground shaking thud, spilling blood and pieces of his forehead onto the ground. A small snort was heard from the direction of the throne.

"Sorry about that. Can't have anyone finding out that I know about the girl just yet." He rested his chin on his upturned palms. "Just what is that troublesome wench up to?" he mumbled, racking his brain for any kind of explanation. She wasn't the type of woman to forcibly breed the Kyuubi for its power, and she certainly wasn't the type to do things without a reason. Just what was she planning? "Come!"

A short, black-haired boy appeared from a dark corner of the room. His large dark eyes were nearly emotionless as he approached his leader, and he knelt to one knee in front of him.

"Yes, Danzo-sama?" he asked, his short dark hair falling in front of his eyes. The older man smiled crookedly and motioned towards the dead man in front of him.

"I recently received some interesting information from a now deceased source. I want you to find any information you can on every redheaded girl in Konoha. I expect a report by Sunday afternoon. Are we clear?" The boy nodded minutely, standing to face his superiour head on.

"Yes, Danzo-sama." With that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Danzo's crooked smile widened as plans began to formulate in his battle worn mind.

"Now what will you do, Tsunade?"


	15. Chapter 15

**Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 15**

The familiar smell of ramen wafted into the bedroom, slowly rousing the boy from his slumber. Lifting his nose into the air, the genin hopped to his feet and followed the enticing aroma, drooling more and more as he neared the kitchen. He rounded the corner to see Tayuya standing boredly in front of his small two burner stove, slowly stirring something in a large pot. Using every ounce of ninja ability he possessed, he carefully snuck up behind the oblivious redhead, his grin widening with each mischievous step.

"What are you doing, Naruto?" she asked, not turning away from the stove. The blond pouted and straightened up, walking over to stand next to her. It was becoming harder and harder to sneak up on her lately.

"Nothin' much." Tayuya snorted and rolled her eyes. Yeah right. "What's that?" He peered into the steaming pot with a frown, curiously studying the suspicious looking contents. This was the second time in three days that she'd cooked for him, and if the last meal was any indication, it was going to be good. She lifted the ladle out of the pot to show him.

"Sushi ramen." They boy's nose wrinkled automatically. Who the hell mixed _sushi_ and _ramen_? It went against all that was good and holy in the world of cheap fast food! Noticing his foul expression, she (not so) lightly jabbed him in the side with her elbow, causing him to grunt in slight pain. "Don't knock it 'till you've tried it. Besides, if we didn't eat all that leftover shit from last night, we'd be wasting our money." He idly wondered when 'his' money became 'ours.'

Still, he was ecstatic that he'd get to taste her cooking again. There was something vastly different about eating a home-cooked meal made by someone else, and the closest thing he'd ever had to a love-filled meal was the ramen at Ichiraku's. He chuckled quietly at the thought of Tayuya dumping hearts and flowers into the ramen, wearing a hot pink apron around her waist and sporting a mile wide smile. It was an oddly disturbing, yet humorous picture.

"What?" Tayuya spat, suspiciously narrowing her eyes. She'd noticed the mischievous grin on his face, and couldn't help but wonder what it was the boy was thinking about. Knowing his mind, it was probably something she'd never imagine in a million years.

To her annoyance, the boy only shook his head and grinned wider, dancing out of her reach before she could jab him again in the side with another well-placed elbow. He stuck out his tongue and ran off towards the bathroom, acting very much like their five year old Academy students. Despite herself, she felt a small, amused smirk flutter across her lips. Things were never boring whenever Naruto was involved.

She turned off the burner and easily hefted the pot with two hands, striding purposely towards the tiny card table. Her leg strength was almost back to normal, and as long as she didn't lift heavy items or attempt to jump down from high places, they'd support her just fine. If she continued to do the stretches she'd been told to by Shizune, there was no doubt in her mind that she'd be back to full strength within the next day or two -- a far cry from just a week ago, when she'd been unable to even _feel_ her legs.

Her mind drifted to the time before the operation, and she marveled at how quickly Naruto had become a part of her life. Hell, it took her _years _to get used to her old teammates, and even _then_ she hated their guts with a fiery passion. Her relationship with Naruto, if it could even be called a relationship, was nothing like the grudging minimal respect she shared with Kimimarou and the others. For one, he didn't want anything from her.

He didn't expect her to be strong, kind, or respectful like most people did. He accepted her at face value, and as far as she could tell, he didn't have any ulterior motives outside of becoming her friend. It was a strange concept to grasp for someone who hadn't had a genuine friend since she lived in the Earth country, but she was gradually becoming used to it.

Another thing she liked about Naruto was that he was honest. Sure, he occasionally played pranks or attempted to lie his way out of a potentially harmful situation (while failing miserably, of course), but he'd never lie about things that could hurt someone else. He was loyal to a fault, and if someone had told her a few weeks ago that a person like him existed in today's world, she would have boastfully laughed in their face before sending one of her zombies to pummel them into the ground. Idiots who believed cheeky shit like that deserved to die. Ironically, she was now one of them.

Shaking her head to clear those useless thoughts from her mind, Tayuya set the soup-filled pot down on the table, being careful not knock one of the cheap porcelain bowls onto the wood floor below her.

"Naruto!" she called, setting herself down in one of the chairs, "Hurry up and eat! We have to leave in the next hour!" They were expected to arrive at the front gates before nine o'clock in the morning, and a quick glance at the clock hanging above the television showed that it was already a quarter after seven. It was a half hour walk to the front gates from his apartment, but they could easily make it in ten if they jogged.

Naruto bounded out of the bathroom, looking much more awake than he had only a few minutes earlier. Judging by the water clinging to the ends of his unruly bangs, he'd just finished freshening up.

As soon as he'd plopped down onto his own chair, she grabbed the spoon and unceremoniously dumped a huge serving of the fish-smelling ramen into his bowl. He stared down at the strange mixture with no small amount of trepidation, and whimpering slightly, he lifted his fearful blue eyes to meet her expectant brown ones.

"Do I have to..."

"Eat."

With a loud sigh, Naruto slowly dipped his chopsticks into the large white bowl. It almost reminded him of a TV sitcom he used to watch about a typical Eastern family, where the mother would always have to force the children to eat their vegetables or else they wouldn't get any desert. He pulled a few noodles out of the dish and grudgingly placed them in his mouth.

Though she was doing her best to look uninterested, Tayuya was eagerly studying the boy for his reaction. When she'd tested it earlier, the soup had tasted utterly amazing -- then again, she also thought it was tasty to mix orange juice, chocolate chips and corn flakes together.

Not that she cared; if he didn't like it, oh fucking well. That meant there was plenty more for her, and listening to the sound of her own stomach growling, she'd have no problems finishing off what he didn't eat. Nevertheless, she figuratively sat on the edge of her seat as he swished the broth around in his mouth.

"Hm..." he started, humming through pursed lips. She watched him swallow the soup and smile, giving her his famous (yet incredibly corny) thumbs up sign of approval. "It's good!" Her lips unwittingly twitched into a smirk, and she fought to turn it into a frown.

"Of course it is, dumbass! _I _made it!" She haughtily scooped a large amount of the ramen into her own bowl and immediately began to eat, stewing in both pride and satisfaction.

For his part, Naruto was amused. He'd felt her eyes staring at him from across the table, and it was painfully obvious that she was waiting for a reaction. If it weren't for the fact that he trusted her with his life (a privilege only awarded to his precious people), he would have assumed that she was trying to poison him. Not that it would have mattered given Kyuubi's healing abilities, but that was a totally different subject in itself.

Although it was uncommon, he'd had a hard time pinpointing exactly where Tayuya stood. Usually when he first met someone, he could immediately tell what kind of person they were (With Kabuto being the exception; that bastard was tricky). Most people were either good or bad with slight discrepancies strewn in.

Tayuya, on the other hand, was somewhere right in the middle. She was loud, brash, mean, sometimes selfish, and had a horribly foul mouth to boot. On the other hand, she was also sympathetic, caring, thoughtful, and brutally honest. Unknowingly, he'd become intrigued by her ambiguous personality.

He was hesitant to accept her at first; she _was_ one of the five Sound nin who tried to stop them from rescuing Sasuke, and she certainly wasn't the nicest person he'd ever run into in his short life. However, once he'd seen the pain in her eyes similar to his own, he couldn't help but feel as if he had to do something to help her. It just wasn't in his nature to abandon a helpless individual; even if she was the enemy.

Looking back, he was glad that he did attempt to get to know her better. In only three weeks, she had easily worked her way into the ranks of his precious people. Granted, it wasn't that difficult to make it onto the list in the first place, but it was still remarkably fast considering that she used to be the enemy.

He slurped another large amount of the noodles down his throat, enjoying the fishy treat. The sushi added a whole new dimension of flavor to the normally overly salty dish, and mixed with the seasoning from the shrimp ramen package, it almost tasted professional. Hell, maybe Ichiraku's should add this dish to their ever expanding menu!

He dumped another spoonful of the soup into his bowl, practically inhaling his breakfast. This was his last meal in Konoha, and even though he wanted to savor it as much as he could, he found that it was impossible to eat ramen at any speed below Mach 5. Besides, if he didn't eat as much as he could now, Tayuya would finish it off before he got to his third helping.

In all his thirteen years of life, Naruto had _never_ seen a girl eat so much so fast. She expertly twirled and stuffed the noodles into her mouth, barely stopping to breathe. It wasn't sloppy like his own eating, and not one drop of soup made it onto her face or clothing. If he wasn't so enamored with Sakura-chan, he might actually attempt to hit on the equally attractive Tayuya.

Heh. Yeah right.

After nearly ten minutes of nonstop voracious eating, both genin hopped to their feet to prepare to leave. Tayuya grabbed the dishes off of the table, allowing Naruto to fold and place the table against the wall. They wouldn't be using it again for at least another three years. He hurried into his room to get dressed, pulling and tugging at the clothes with ample amounts of energy. A few minutes later, the redhead walked in with a mildly confused expression.

"What the fuck are you rushing for? We still got an hour and a half to get to the front gates." He tied his headband securely around his head and began to drag his pack out to the hallway.

"There's somewhere I want to go before we leave! You can go straight to the gates if I'm not back in time." He looked at her with a strangely alien intensity, different from the casual innocence he usually displayed. She shrugged her shoulders and frowned.

"Whatever," she muttered, shooing him nonchalantly with her free hand. It's not like she had any say over whether he could leave or not. He flashed her one last grin before rushing out of the room and sprinting out the front door, leaving his pack against the wall to pick up later. Sighing loudly, Tayuya plopped down onto his bed and began to change. She stripped off the simple white shirt she'd had to borrow after yesterday's 'incident', and slipped out of the slightly sticky orange shorts, placing them in her open pack to wash and wear just in case.

Goosebumps immediately began to pop out on her skin as a result of the cool autumn air, and she forcefully rubbed her bare arms to ward off the subtle chill. Fuck, Konoha was a cold place. For some reason, the air in Konoha seemed to seep directly to her bones, freezing her from the inside out. Sound was probably just as cold, but the humidity there was much higher around this time of year.

She slipped on the simple dark blue long-sleeved shirt and pants with a small bit of difficulty, marveling at how much tighter they were as compared to the time before the operation. Maybe she _should_ slow down in her eating; she had to be gaining weight _somewhere_, even if she couldn't see it.

She slowly pushed herself onto her feet and made the small trek to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She didn't have a toothbrush of her own, so she'd secretly been using Naruto's in the meantime. It wasn't like he noticed -- or, even if he did, he wouldn't care. He didn't seem like the type to throw a fit over something as small as borrowing a toothbrush. Then again, he _would_ throw a fit if someone tried to eat out of his bowl of ramen. Her eyes unwittingly rolled at the thought. His priorities were more fucked up than her own.

After washing her face and checking herself over in the mirror, she languidly placed her hands on her hips and frowned. Now that she thought about it, there wasn't much to do; the idiot probably wouldn't be back for another hour or so, and early morning television had the strange tendency to suck--mostly because it consisted of corny soap operas and half-assed talk shows.

Sighing loudly, Tayuya walked into the bedroom to finish getting dressed. Just as she entered the room, her foot tripped over a loose board, sending her sprawling to the ground. Fortunately, she managed to avoid bumping her head against the corner of the small dresser, using her ingrained training to lean forward at the last second. Unfortunately, she landed squarely on her bottom for what had to be the fifth time since she came to Konoha.

"Fucking goddamn shitty ass floor..." she murmured, rubbing at her now sore tail bone. She glared at the protruding floorboard with murderous intent, almost wishing it was alive so that she could kill it. As she stared at the loose piece of wood, her face gradually softened into recognition. If her memory served her correctly, that was the same place Naruto hid his cash. Grinning evily, she crawled over on her hands and knees before tossing the board aside.

To her surprise, the area under the wood was actually pretty large. Besides the simple gray box he used to house his cash, there were various other items resting on top of a small bedsheet. Most of the items were junk, consisting of a few old teddy bears and toys stacked neatly in a pile. She briefly wondered what the story was behind the playthings, but moved on anyway to look through the rest of his things.

Directly next to that pile of junk sat...more junk. To her, anyway. There were a few strange looking ramen bowls sitting in one corner, and a group of scrolls and books resting in another. A glint of light caught her eye, and she leaned in to pick up what looked to be a photo album.

"Bullseye," she muttered, brushing off the small feeling of excitement building in the bottom of her stomach. It's not the she really gave much of a fuck about him or his past, but hell -- she was bored. She shifted her pose a little to get more comfortable, and not able to bear it any longer, she flipped open the large silver encrusted book.

The first page was a simple large golden piece of stock paper, decorated by a winding brown spiral of flowers around the edges. In the center was a small paragraph of cursive text, written in what looked like simple black ink:

_'To Uzumaki Naruto, the boy who has inherited the true Will of Fire deep within his heart. Make plenty of memories with those precious to you, and never forget those who have helped you on your path to becoming a strong shinobi of the Leaf._

_-Sandaime "Ji-san" Hokage'_

To say she was surprised would be an understatement. Not many could boast having a close relationship with even one Hokage, and he'd somehow managed to worm his way into the hearts of both the Third and Fifth easily. She almost felt bad for helping Orochimaru kill the old fucker, especially since he seemed to be pretty important to Naruto.

Shaking her head, Tayuya turned the page in earnest. Smack dab in the center of the first photo page was a large picture of a baby Naruto. He was sleeping peacefully in the arms of the smiling Sandaime Hokage, and she couldn't help the small smile that appeared on her face at how cute he was. There was no doubt that he was the idiot blond, as the three whisker marks etched prominently into his cheeks pretty much gave it away. She stared a moment longer before turning the page.

The next page contained a somewhat similar picture; only this time, Naruto looked to be around three or four years old. He was smiling widely at the camera, showing every one of his bright white teeth (sans the two missing in the front). He was holding a large strawberry ice cream cone in his left hand, topped with what looked like chocolate sprinkles. The Hokage stood to his right, holding the young boy's hand while sporting an equally wide smile at the camera. It was amusing how similar it looked to a grandfather and grandson enjoying a day at the park, and if it weren't for the ANBU officers she spotted in the trees around the them (They _really_ needed to work on hiding themselves better), the scene would've been perfect.

The redhead frowned as she turned to the next page. Here, Naruto stood alone with a small smile in front of the Academy. He looked to be around seven or eight, and there were a bunch of kids playing on the jungle gym in the background. It was obvious to her (and probably the taker of the picture) that he wasn't too happy, and she felt a small pang of sympathy for the boy. Shizune was right; he really didn't have any friends back then.

The next page was a lot happier than the previous one. Naruto and the ponytail fucker who'd visited him at the hospital were grinning at the camera, sitting at the counter of what looked to be Ichiraku Ramen. The old man and his granddaughter were leaning over the counter next to them, holding up the peace sign. Figures they'd choose something so cliche.

She turned the page again to see the same picture that he had resting on his dresser. Team seven was standing angrily in front of their nervously smiling sensei, glaring at each other out of the corner of their eyes. It was hard to believe that they'd managed to survive with such obvious tension among them, but hell, whatever worked.

Tayuya frowned when she realized that that was pretty much it. Except for a picture of an unconscious Naruto and some black-haired lady (she looked awfully familiar; maybe from a movie?) and a picture of Jiraiya, Shizune, Tsunade, and himself, there wasn't anything left in the large book. He had at least another ninety or so empty pages to fill, and it was saddening to see that he had so few pictures of his life. He didn't have any pictures with kids his own age -- fuck, even she had more pictures than he did! They were all in the Sound village of course, and probably tossed in the trash by now, but she definitely used to have more.

Her scowl deepening, she carefully placed the heavy book back in its place, deciding to get what she originally came for in the first place. It wasn't her intention to get into such a sour mood, and maybe the sight of money would cheer her up some. With that thought in mind, she plucked the gray book from its resting place and quickly lifted the lid. Her jaw dropped as she observed the masses of wadded up bills and coins sitting in the box. There was no way in _hell_ that was only 750,000 yen.

Her hands shaking with excitement, she quickly dumped the box upside down, spilling the contents onto the rug that normally covered the hidden compartment. She wasted no time in sorting the massive amounts of cash into groups; one into paper bills, one into coins, and the final group into mission payments. The dumbass hadn't even bothered to cash in any of his checks.

Tayuya hopped to her feet to grab a piece of paper and a pen. While she could never be called a mathematician, she certainly knew how to count when it came to money. She counted out the paper bills first, shuffling through the money as if it was second nature. Her eyes grew larger as she continued to count, the number already exceeding 800,000.

"Fuck, 870,500 yen in paper," she mumbled, scribbling down the figure on the fresh piece of paper. She moved on to the coins, separating them by value before counting them. The pen was perched importantly behind her ear, giving her the appearance of a skilled accountant (or loan shark) conducting her business.

"9,743 in coins..." Tayuya whispered, quickly writing down the number. She finally moved on to the checks, and adding up the D, C, B, and A-ranked missions he'd been on (she was surprised to find that he'd actually been on three already), his total had come up to a shocking 517,817 yen. After some quick addition on her part, she held up the paper to eye level and sucked in an even breath of air.

"Grand total, 1,398,060 yen. Holy. Fucking. Shit." She was exceedingly glad that she was already sitting, else she'd have definitely fainted right there on the spot. On one hand, it wasn't all that surprising; he lived off of ramen, didn't pay rent, received an allowance from the Sandaime for six years, and only had five or six outfits. Combined with the fact that he'd taken on some pretty fuckin' high class missions, well, the bastard was loaded.

Nodding decisively to herself, she placed all of the money neatly back in the box, leaving the mission payments on the rug. She was going to cash those in before they left. The redhead placed everything in its appropriate place before shoving the white papers in her pocket and heading out the door. She locked the front door behind her and bounded down the steps, rushing towards the Hokage tower. They only had a little over an hour to get to the front gates, and if she didn't hurry, it'd be too late.

After running for a bit, Tayuya scowled and took to the rooftops. Thankfully, her legs were supporting her well enough if she didn't attempt to jump too far or high, and she reached tower in (her) record time. She scaled the winding steps with ease, and bursting into the mission payments office, she stopped and took a few gasping breaths of air. Goddamn, she was out of shape.

"Tayuya-san?" a familiar voice asked, concern evident in the tone. The redhead snapped her head up to see Shizune beginning to stand up and walk around the desk.

"Whoa...you...you're fuckin' everywhere!" she said between breaths. The older woman frowned and placed her hands on the girl's forehead, completely ignoring her poorly worded statement.

"What's wrong? Shouldn't you be getting ready to leave?" Wasting no time, Tayuya pulled the slips from her pocket and stuck them out in front of her.

"I need these cashed. Quick." The medic-nin lifted her eyebrows, but took the offered papers. She looked through each one with no small amount of surprise, and her eyes slowly raised to meet the genin's.

"These are Naruto-kun's?" When the redhead nodded, she continued. "Why didn't he cash them before?"

"Don't know, don't really fuckin' care. Look, can you cash 'em or not?" Noticing the woman's frown, she rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "_Please._"

"Normally, I wouldn't, given that Naruto-kun himself isn't here to verify the transaction." Tayuya's face noticeably fell, and her shoulders slumped slightly in disappointment. All that fucking running for nothing. "But, given the circumstances, I suppose I can do it for you. I don't think you'd steal his money." Shizune's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Would you?"

"Why the fuck would I do that? You're gonna see us at the gates later today anyway, so it's not like I could get away with it even if I _did_ want to steal it." The older woman studied her a moment longer before nodding. Her argument made sense, and the girl seemed to have genuinely good intentions. She walked back around her desk and expertly counted out the bills, placing them in small piles until she had the desired total amount. She then placed each of the stacks into a separate envelope labeled with the letters D to A.

"Here you go!" Tayuya took the small packets from the woman and smiled. Although she was loathe to admit it, she was a little touched that the medic-nin had placed so much faith in her. With an uncharacteristic show of respect, she bowed slightly to the woman in front her before bolting out of the door, leaving an utterly surprised and bewildered Shizune behind. Her face gradually turned into one of slight panic and remembrance, and rushing to the doorway, she looked down the hall in the direction the girl had gone.

"Wait! Tayuya-san! You forgot your payments for working at the Academy!" Unfortunately, the redhead was long gone, already bouncing over the rooftops towards the Market District.

-------------------

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto yelled, running full speed to the Academy building. The man in question turned around in surprise, nearly dropping the large stack of books cradled in his arms.

"Naruto? What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be getting ready to leave?" The genin skidded to a stop in front of his former teacher and father figure. He took a small breath to get his heart under control and shot the man a wide foxy grin.

"You didn't think I'd leave without saying goodbye, did you?" he asked. The scarred chuunin gave him a grin of his own and assumed a faux thinking pose, shuffling the books to a more comfortable position.

"Hm, I don't know. I haven't been able to get a hold of you these last couple of days, what with you going around town with your new girlfriend and all." Naruto's eyes widened slightly at the accusation.

"T-Tayuya-chan's not my girlfriend!" he exclaimed, waving his hands in front of himself.

"Oh? So she's Tayuya-_chan_ now?"

"No! Well, yeah, but not like that!" The man chuckled and shook his head, amused by the boy's reaction. Even if he'd grown into a powerful shinobi in his own right, he was still the same old Naruto.

"Okay, okay, I believe you. _This_ time." Before the boy could protest again, he pushed some of the books into the blond's arms and jerked his head towards the Academy building.

"I'm running a little late, mind helping me with these books? Besides, there are a few people who I know would like to say their goodbyes before you leave." Naruto gave him a questioning stare, but shrugged his shoulders and followed his old teacher into the building. It was a quick walk from the front of the school to the classroom, and he could already hear the loud chattering of the students as he approached.

It was almost nostalgic to be walking these halls again so early in the morning despite being here only a few days before with his own class. The wooden floors and walls of the building looked just as old and worn as he remembered, and except for what looked like a small touch up in the paint job, there weren't any noticeable changes.

They reached the classroom and walked inside. Immediately, they were assaulted by the sound of two dozen seven, eight, and nine year olds chattering amiably amongst themselves. Iruka set the books down on his desk and clapped his hands together to get their attention.

"Alright, settle down class!" A small, pudgy boy in the front row stood up and pointed at the man accusingly.

"You're late, Iruka-sensei!" The teacher shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and picked up one of the books, opening and pretending to read it while leaning back against the desk.

"Well, what can I say. I got lost on the road of life." He shot Naruto a small conspiratorial grin, causing the blond to chuckle lightly at the subtle reference.

"Who's that?" Another one of the kids asked, staring at the laughing boy. Iruka pushed his former student in front of him.

"This is one of my students from last year, Uzumaki Naruto. Even though he was dead last in the Academy --" Naruto crossed his arms and grumbled something under his breath, "-- he still somehow managed to make it to the last round of the Chuunin Exams, defeating the rookie of the year from two years ago in one on one combat." The students murmured amongst themselves, shooting the two standing in the front of the room disbelieving glances every now and then.

At the mention of his name, four people in the classroom noticeably perked up and turned their attention to the front of the room. Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon hopped up from their seats and pointed excitedly at Naruto.

"Boss!" Konohamaru yelled, excitement evident on his face. Naruto lifted his arm and waved back with equal amounts of excitement. He'd forgotten that the Konohamaru Corps was already in the Academy, and seeing as how they were still together, it was obvious that the three of them would become a powerful and well rounded team by the time they graduated; unlike Team 7.

"Naruto?" a small voice asked from the back of the classroom. All heads turned back in shock to see the quiet and normally stoic Hyuuga Hanabi looking down at the blond with interest. She never spoke much in or out of class, only opening her mouth when absolutely necessary or to put down another classmate for their poor skills. "Your name's Naruto?"

The genin tilted his head slightly in curiosity, studying the lithe seven year old staring back at him with an equally curious expression. It was easy to see that she was of the Hyuuga clan, even without her fierce light violet eyes. Her posture was flawless, a sure sign of her regal upbringing, and her face held the same discompassionate stare that was common among the members of both the Main and Branch families.

"Yeah, what about it?" Hanabi's eyes widened slightly with surprise. So _that _was the name of the boy who'd beaten Neji during the Chuunin Exams! It was also the name of the boy who...

"So you're the one who onee-san..." Her hands unconsciously went to her chest, emulating a small squeezing motion. "But...you look like an idiot. Why_ you?_"

"Hey! Don't talk about Naruto-nii-chan like that! He's way smarter than you'll ever be, Hanabi!" Konohamaru yelled from the other side of the classroom.

"If he's anything like you, I highly doubt that." The boy snarled and stood up in his seat.

"Why you..." Before he could say another word, loud laughter could be heard from the front of the room.

"You...you guys are just like me and Sasuke!" Naruto gasped out between breaths. Hanabi narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms in a huff.

"Don't compare me to the likes of you and that traitor Uchiha." He chuckled louder and shook his head. She was definitely a textbook Hyuuga.

"Yeah, yeah." He glanced at the clock to his right and gasped. "Whoa! It's almost time for me to leave!" He quickly embraced his former teacher in a tight hug. "Later, Iruka-sensei!" The blond then ran towards the window, waving towards the now surprised class. "Later Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon! You too, Firecracker! See you in three years!" Before any of them could say another word, Naruto leaped into the air and disappeared through the window.

"Firecracker?!" Hanabi shrieked, uncharacteristically raising her voice. The rest of the kids in the classroom began to giggle and snicker at the nickname, a few of them even daring to repeat the hastily given nickname. Her face heated up with embarrassment and anger, and seeing the furious look on the girl's face, Iruka quickly raised his hands into the air to calm the class.

"Alright, alright, that's enough you guys. Let's put our thinking caps on and start with the lesson, shall we?" A small chorus of boos was heard from somewhere in the classroom, but they were quickly silenced by several well-thrown pieces of chalk. The scarred chuunin looked towards the window with a wide, proud smile permeating across his face.

"Do your best, Naruto."

--------------------

A small, dark shadow slipped into the large, dimly lit office of the Godaime Hokage. Luckily, the Hokage, her assistant, and her personal guard had already left just under five minutes ago. Even luckier was that the ANBU officer guarding the empty office was one of Danzo's men.

He wasted no time in looking through the drawers and file cabinets for the shinobi and civilian rosters. Unsurprisingly, there were hundreds upon thousands of folders in the large metal cabinets, and it would be quite a daunting task to look through all of the files if he was a regular shinobi. Keeping his face stoic as ever, he pulled a scroll, ink, and a brush from the small bag on his hip. He painted many large strokes of ink onto the paper before forming his left hand into a simple release hand sign.

"Sumi Bunshin no Jutsu." Immediately, twenty perfect ink clones of himself appeared in the large office. They immediately got to work shifting and shuffling through the folders, looking at each picture for a sign of a redheaded female.

"Perhaps I should have created more clones," he murmured to himself, quickly becoming bored with the task. He and his clones had already spent ten minutes looking through the civilian roster, and thus far, none of them had seen so much as a flash of red hair. They were forced to work at somewhat of a slow speed, being careful to stack the folders back in order lest someone find out that there'd been an intrusion.

Finally, after over half an hour of looking, a clone emerged with a file. The original grabbed the folder and flipped through it, looking for any clues as to who the mysterious redhead was. A miniscule frown appeared on his face.

"This woman is too old, and the file says her eyes are green."

"Hold on. Didn't Danzo-sama say that she assaulted our civilian troops?" A small flicker of remembrance flashed in the emotionless boy's eyes.

"That's right. A normal civilian woman wouldn't be able to beat three men alone." He paused for a moment in thought. "You five, continue looking through the civilian files just in case. The rest of you help me sort through the shinobi files."

The group worked diligently for another twenty or so minutes, only stopping to pull more files from the drawer. The shinobi roster was drastically smaller than its counterpart, and in no time, a clone held up an abnormally thick folder. He handed the envelope off to the original and quickly continued in his task.

"Satou Tayuya. Quite an unimaginable name," he drawled, glancing over the first page. "Red hair, brown eyes, 148 centimeters, 38.2 kilograms." His eyebrows lifted sightly as he read over the rest of her file. "Has completed one B-rank mission, and is leaving today for a classified S-rank. Used to be former shinobi of the Sound, and is a prisoner turned genin. Interesting. I believe that this is the girl Danzo-sama is looking for." He turned to the other clones and waved a commanding hand in the air. "Clean up the files, I've got what I want." The clones immediately stopped what they were doing and began to put away the mountains of folders. The original, meanwhile, pulled a small scroll from the pouch at his side. He placed one hand on the stack of papers containing all of Tayuya's information, and one on the still unopened scroll lying on the desk.

"Kanzen Utsusu no Jutsu." Immediately, words began lift from the original documents and swirl into the scroll, filling it with the contents of her file. He picked up the scroll a few seconds later and opened it to see a perfect copy embedded neatly into the paper.

"We've finished cleaning up the office," a clone said from behind him. The boy nodded and waved his hand, dispelling all twenty of the ink clones without a second glance. He quickly slipped his tools back into his pouch and put away the folder. With a few handseals and a whispered _'Shunshin no Jutsu'_, he disappeared from the large, dark office.

-----------------------------

"Tayuya-chan! We're late!"

Naruto burst through the front door of his apartment, taking deep, calming breaths to slow down his heart. He picked up his traveling pack and slung it over his shoulders.

"Tayuya-chan?" When she didn't appear from inside the apartment, he scratched his head and walked down the hallway. Looking at the clock, she'd probably already left for the front gates, as there was only twenty minutes left until they had to leave. Just to be sure, he decided to check every room of the small complex.

He reached his bedroom in a matter of steps, and poking his head inside, he looked for any sign of the short-tempered girl.

"Tayuya-chan, are you in here?" he asked, taking a few cautious steps into the room. Her pack was still leaning lightly against his bed, signifying that she hadn't yet left to meet up with his sensei. A small frown appeared on his face. There didn't seem to be any signs of a kidnapping (If he knew Tayuya, she'd put up a hell of a fight), so that possibility was quickly thrown out. So where was she? He turned around and jogged back to the doorway -- only to run directly into the very person he'd been looking for.

Unfortunately, Naruto had much more momentum and weight than the petite redhead, and both were sent barreling to the ground.

"You've gotta be fuckin' kidding me!" Tayuya screamed, her face contorted into more of an annoyed than angry frown. "God fucking damnit, no matter where the fuck I go, I always end up on the goddamn shitty ground!" She roughly pushed him aside and immediately got to her feet, zipping into the room before he could say a word of apology. Surprised that she didn't berate him (directly), he hopped up and followed her.

"Where'd you go?" he asked, noticing her putting something in her pack. "And what's that?" She noticeably stiffened at his question, and with a slightly awkward shrug, she glanced at him from the corner of her eye.

"Don't worry about it." Tayuya lightly bit her lip in thought. She had to get rid of him somehow. "Hey, Naruto, do me a favor. I dropped one of my kunai outside. Can you get it for me?" Naruto tilted his head in confusion.

"What? Why didn't you just pick it up when you dropped it? Besides, can't we just get it on our way out?" Her eyebrow twitched with annoyance.

"It won't take that long, and I need it _now_." The boy furrowed his brows but shrugged, turning around to do as she asked. "Oh, and I dropped it on the first floor!" As soon as he was out of the room, Tayuya wasted no time in flipping the rug away from his hidden compartment and removing the loose floorboards that covered it. She grabbed the small gray box and opened the lid as fast as she could, every now and then glancing towards the doorway. With a speed only known to shinobi, she pulled the leftover wad of cash from her pocket and threw it into the box before putting it in her bag, replacing the floorboards and rug with equal speed.

"Ne, Tayuya-chan, I don't see it," Naruto called, walking back into the room. She laughed nervously and stood up from her seat on the floor.

"Oh, uh, I guess I didn't drop it after all! The damn thing was still in my pouch!" She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulders. "What the hell're you doing just standing around?! We have to go!" She jogged out of the room, leaving a confused and bewildered Naruto in her wake.

"Girls are weird..." he mumbled, closing and locking the door behind him.

"Let's go!" Tayuya yelled from the bottom of the stairs. The blond rolled his eyes and hopped down from the second story to meet her. They sprinted along the rooftops at their fastest speed, both moving a little slow because of their previous exercise. The ground and people beneath them were a blur as they ran, and the wind whipped around them like smothering dragons.

"There it is!" Naruto called, squinting his eyes to better see their destination. They hopped down from the buildings and slowed their pace a bit to regain some of their lost energy, eventually slowing to a fast walk. To his surprise, there was more than just Jiraiya and the Hokage waiting to see him off.

Nearly the entire Rookie Nine and Gai's Team stood in the clearing leading to the gates.. By some miracle, even Kakashi had managed to show up on time to say goodbye to one of his students. He was also the first to notice the presence of the two genin. He lifted a lazy hand into the air and put on his infamous one-eyed smile.

"Yo, Naruto, I didn't think you'd make it on time." The blond slowed to a stop and snorted.

"I'm not _you_, Kakashi-sensei." Kakashi shrugged with what Tayuya assumed to be a smile.

"Fair enough. Looks like quite the party, huh?" Naruto nodded his agreement. "I never get this kind of send off when _I_ have a long mission." The silver-haired man sniffled quietly and wiped away an imaginary tear, earning another snort from his student. Before he could make a smart-aleck comeback, a loud shout interrupted their conversation.

"Oi! There he is!" an expectantly loud Kiba yelled from the group. Naruto grinned foxily and sheepishly placed his hands behind his head. If he'd known they were all going to show up, he would've made more of an effort to arrive early.

"Hey! I didn't think everyone would show up!" he exclaimed, his grin widening significantly. His eyes swept around the clearing, searching for a familiar flash of pink hair. "Where's Sakura-chan?" The conversation immediately screeched to a halt, and the other genin subtly avoided his questioning gaze. His smile fell slightly at the silence. "I guess she's not here yet." Ino sighed quietly to herself and approached her fellow blond with a small, complacent smile on her face.

"Naruto-kun...Sakura's not feeling too well," she explained, choosing her words carefully. She couldn't bear to tell him that his teammate and love interest didn't want anything to do with him, especially since he was leaving for a three year mission and the truth would probably break him. "I'm sure if she could be here, she would." Naruto's smile dimmed momentarily, and he lowered his head to look at his feet. Suddenly, his head snapped up to meet everyone's sympathetic stares, causing his new teammate to narrow her eyes in controlled anger.

"That's okay! I'll just see her when I get back then!" On the outside of the group, the Godaime Hokage frowned deeply. Even she knew how much her youngest apprentice meant to the boy, and it angered her to see that the girl couldn't even see her teammate off. For her sake, Sakura had better have a damn good reason for missing this. Shizune had a similar expression, and wanting to change the subject, she stepped forward and held out two identical envelops to the genin.

"Naruto-kun, Tayuya-san, here are your mission payments for the past two weeks. You left before I could give them to you."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Naruto asked, confusion evident on his face. The medic-nin turned a disappointed gaze upon Tayuya, but before she could speak, the redhead grabbed both her and the Hokage's hands and pulled them aside. The group watched curiously as Tayuya whispered and conspired animatedly, every now and then looking or pointing at the blond genin. After a few minutes of speaking, the Hokage sighed and nodded her head, rubbing her temples as she did so.

"What's going on?" A mysterious voice asked from behind the blond. Naruto frowned slightly and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I dunno, but they've been talking for awhile." He turned around to greet the person -- only to stare directly into a large pair of fishnet covered breasts. "Ack! You! What are you doing here?!"

Mitarashi Anko looked down at the shocked genin with a mischievously evil smile, exposing two perfect rows of shining white teeth. She was wearing the same brown skirt and tan trench coat that she'd worn during the Chuunin Exams, and her dark purple hair was pulled back into a loose spiked ponytail. He also noticed that she had a rather large backpack leaning against her leg.

"She's the jounin assigned to help with your training," Tsunade said, approaching with Tayuya and Shizune behind her. Naruto's jaw dropped, and his eyes widened in unbridled fear.

"B-but, she's crazy! What if she tries to eat me?!" Anko's predacious grin grew wider.

"Hm, you don't have to worry about that. I'm not a big fan of shrimp." Before he could retaliate, she turned to Kakashi with a small frown. "Did you bring what I asked?" she asked, placing a tired hand on her hip. The man nodded and produced a small scroll from one of the pockets in his vest.

"This is all I could scrounge up in a week's time. It's not much, but it should be of some use." The purple-haired woman grabbed the scroll and threw it into her knapsack, ignoring the curious stares of the gathered shinobi.

"It's better than nothing. Thanks, Kakashi." He closed his right eye in silent acknowledgment. "Where's Jiraiya-sama? I'm ready to leave already." As if on cue, a large puff of smoke appeared in front of them, revealing the Toad Sannin in his trademark pose. A large grin was plastered confidently on his face as he danced around the group, and Tsunade placed her face in her hands with shame. To think that she was put on the same level as _that_ idiot.

"Did someone call?!" he exclaimed, oblivious to the incredulous stares he was receiving from the others. Tayuya shook her head in disbelief, hardly believing that this was the guy Orochimaru had been on the same genin squad with. Already tired of waiting, she produced a small camera from her bag and held it up into the air.

"All you fuckers line up! I need to take a picture!" Everyone shifted their eyes away from the Sannin and turned them onto the ever-glaring redhead. Naruto uncharacteristically gawked at the small rectangle device. He hadn't seen her buy anything during their time together, and they'd been practically inseparable over the past few weeks.

"What are you going on about now, troublesome woman?" Shikamaru mumbled, his bored frown deepening. A few of the other genin nodded in agreement, further annoying Tayuya.

"I don't believe I stuttered, Pineapple Head." Loud snickers were heard from the group. "I said, we're gonna take a picture. You too, Hyuuga." Hinata jumped at being pointed out so abruptly, but she quickly got a reign on her emotions and glared at her rival. Nevertheless, she scooted in closer to the group until she stood directly next to Naruto.

"Do as she says," Tsunade sighed, waving her hand towards the others as she joined the group. They lined up by rank; genin in front, and everyone else scattered around behind them. Even Tonton somehow squirmed her way into the picture, skidding to a stop directly in front of Naruto. Satisfied with the layout, Tayuya slowly scanned her eyes across the clearing. She suddenly stopped and pointed to a spot above one of the buildings.

"You, ANBU guy, take the picture!" she called. Nothing happened until the Hokage nodded her consent, and soon after, a woman in a black cloak materialized out of thin air. The group was genuinely surprised that she had pointed the officer out so easily, even those who knew that she was a former part of Orochimaru's elite guard.

The woman hesitantly plucked the camera from her fingertips, holding it up to her porcelain masked face. She was a little worried about what her boss would say about her being detected by a mere genin, but given that the normally hotheaded blond hadn't started yelling yet, she felt reasonably safe. She waited for the redhead to position herself directly beside the Kyuubi container before glancing through the small square viewfinder.

"Say cheese," She deadpanned.

"Cheese!"

"Troublesome..."

"Cheese?! Where?!"

"..."

"Dango!"

"Arf!"

"C-cheese..."

The camera clicked a second after, and the woman wasted no time in sprinting over to Tayuya to forcefully place the camera in her surprised hands. A moment later, she disappeared.

"Didn't have to be such a bitch about it..." she mumbled, glancing over the device to make sure that it hadn't been broken. Reasonably satisfied that everything was in order, she tossed the camera back into her bag and strung the pack over her shoulders.

"Why'd you wanna take a picture? And where'd you get the camera from?" Naruto asked, mirroring her actions. A funny look flashed across her face, but she quickly replaced it with an indignant glare. Luckily, his friends chose that moment to interrupt their conversation.

"Oi, Naruto, get strong so I can kick your ass when you get back!" Kiba exclaimed, approaching the two genin. Shino and Hinata flanked him, both equally silent. The bug boy subtly adjusted his dark glasses and nodded.

"I look forward to sparring with you in the future."

"Thanks, guys! I...think. Don't worry, I'll go easy on you!" He turned his attention to the Hyuuga staring down at her hands. "Hey, Hinata-chan, I'm glad you could make it! Make sure you train hard too so we can spar when I get back!" Tayuya snorted loudly from behind him, earning her a light bump from the blond.

"I-I will, Naruto-kun...and..." She glared darkly at Tayuya, surprising both of her teammates. "...Be careful." The redhead grit her teeth, fighting back the urge to rip the white-eyed bitch's head off. She was trying her best to be civil, but the whore was practically begging for a beat down. A sickeningly sweet smile suddenly spread across her face, and she looked down at the shorter girl from over Naruto's shoulder.

"Don't worry, Hinata-_chan_. I'll take_ good _care of our boy here." She deliberately moved a step closer to her teammate, further angering her rival.

"Oi, troublesome woman, stop causing problems," Shikamaru sighed as he approached the group. His eyes lazily rolled over to address Naruto. "I'd hate to be you right now, having to spend three years with her. Good luck." He patted the boy on the shoulder and stepped to the side to allow Ino to move into his space.

"Get strong, Naruto-kun! I'll make you a huge bouquet of flowers when you return!" She glanced over to Tayuya with a less than enthusiastic smile. "Oh, you too." Chouji nodded and stuffed another handful of chips into his mouth.

"And make sure you eat good, okay? Both of you guys are way too skinny to be good shinobi." The redhead opened her mouth to say something, but she was quickly silenced by Naruto's hand over her mouth.

"Ahahaha, thanks, Chouji! We'll definitely keep that in mind!" The chubby boy nodded again, stepping aside to allow the last of the teams to step forward. Tenten was the first to speak, smirking as Tayuya bit Naruto's hand.

"You two seem to get along well. Do your best!" She suddenly leaned in to whisper to the two shinobi. "Oh, and can I get a copy of that picture? You can give it to me when I get back. Thanks!" The girl winked at them one more time before moving to the side.

"YOSH! The Flames of Youth burn brightly within the both of you! I wish Gai-sensei was here to experience this outpouring of youth first hand! Gai-Sensei!" The green clad boy burst into hysterical tears, sobbing openly in the village clearing. Tenten rolled her eyes and grabbed the boy by the shoulders, pulling him out of the way. Neji was the last of the genin to approach, and his eyes immediately settled on the glaring redhead behind Naruto. He studied her with mild curiosity, running his strange white eyes over her entire body.

"What?! You some kind of pervert or somethin'?!" she asked, her glare intensifying under his scrutinizing gaze. Instead of retaliating, the boy only smirked and looked at Naruto with an amused glance.

"This must be the girl you were talking about. It seems as though you've worked things out. Good luck on your mission, and next time, we'll all go get Sasuke back together. You can count on it." The blond smiled widely and shook Neji's offered hand, nodding slightly in agreement. The last people to approach the two were Tsunade and Shizune. The Hokage immediately encased the boy in a bone crushing hug, surprising those who didn't know of their relationship. After a few seconds, she pulled back to stare tearfully into his eyes.

"Take care of yourself, alright? Don't push yourself too hard, and make sure you eat something besides ramen." He rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Yeah, yeah, I know Baa-chan. Don't worry, I'll be fine!" The woman frowned at the nickname and turned to Tayuya.

"Make sure you take care of him. He's an idiot, you know." To her surprise, the Hokage embraced her too. The girl stiffened awkwardly in her arms at the action.

"Y-yeah, sure..." A wave of relief washed over her when the woman finally let go. Despite all that happened within the past few weeks, she still didn't fully trust the Hokage. Instead of hugging them one at a time, Shizune hugged the both of them together. Thankfully, the action only lasted a couple of seconds.

"Be safe! And Tayuya-san, remember what we talked about." Both females glanced at Naruto, alarming the blond.

"W-what?" he asked, taking an unconscious back.

"Nothing. Come on, your sensei's already waiting for us." He stared after her a moment longer before quickly falling into step behind her. Receiving such warm goodbyes from his friends made it even harder for him to leave, but he was also excited to be training under one of the sannin for three years. Not only that, but combined with the things he'd learn from Anko and Tayuya (Even if he was a little afraid of the former), he was confident that he'd be able to bring Sasuke back with no trouble.

The group approached the gate at a leisurely pace, each lost in their own thoughts. They wouldn't be walking through these gates for another three years, a long time by anyone's standards.

"Do you think he'll be alright?" Shizune asked, watching along with Kakashi and Tsunade as the group left the village. Kakashi smirked under his mask.

"I know he will, and in three years, we won't even recognize him. Naruto _is_ Konoha's number one most surprising hyperactive ninja, after all."

-------------------------------

**AN: Fifteenth chapter! Longer than normal AN, since this is a somewhat important chapter. This ends Part 1 of The Melody of the Fox! I've decided to make it a three part story, and before I go on to part 2, I'm going to answer questions that I know have been/will be asked at some point.**

**-Just because this story is Naru/Tayu doesn't mean that he's going to fall in love with her. Doesn't mean he won't, either ;P  
-There are a LOT of subtle hints thrown into these chapter. It's like reading a Where's Waldo book, except you don't know what the fuck you're looking for. Ahaha.  
-He'll be better than he is in the current manga storyline, that's for sure.  
-There will be OC's. Sorry!  
-I'm using both anime and manga for my references. So, basically, fillers before the Naru/Sasu showdown count.  
-I'm going to bump the story up to M at some point.  
-The characters will be OOC, seeing as how they have to actually grow and mature as shinobi. However, they'll still keep their basic personalities.**

** That's about it! Thanks for reading thus far, and I hope you continue to read in the future!**


	16. Chapter 16

**The Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 16**

"Ne, ne, Ero-sennin! When're we gonna start training?" Jiraiya, Anko, and Tayuya all groaned simultaneously. He'd asked that same question exactly eleven times since they'd left Konoha, and each time it became more annoying. Unable to take it any longer, the redhead turned to her left to glare at Naruto.

"Goddamnit Naruto, we haven't even been gone for three fuckin' hours and I already want to kill you!" Tayuya hissed, unconsciously making small choking motions with her hands. The sannin glanced back at them from his position up front with Anko, grinning cockily as he walked along the uneven path leading to the next town.

"Now, now, settle down children." Tayuya growled lowly at being called a child. "Since we'll be spending the next few years together, why don't we pass the time by getting to know each other better? You know, like that thing you guys are required to do when you first become genin." The jounin's eyes literally lit up, and she snapped her head around to look at Jiraiya with an excited grin.

"Ooh! Ooh! I'll go first!" Anko yelled, waving her hand frantically in the air. Tayuya's eye twitched in annoyance.

_'Fuck, she's just like Naruto. I wonder if it's too late to make a run for it...' _Her thoughts were interrupted by the woman's sudden start.

"My name's Mitarashi Anko! I like dango, sleeping, and blood." Naruto blanched slightly as he remembered their small altercation during the Chuunin Exams. He could definitely vouch for her love of blood. "I hate Orochimaru, people who judge me because I was trained by Orochimaru, and people who interrupt my sleep. My hobbies are eating dango, making cool patterns with the dango sticks, and dancing. My ambition is to kill Orochimaru and to open a dango restaurant after I finish with that." Tayuya stared at the woman incredulously.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!_ You_ were trained by Orochimaru too?!" Anko shrugged lightly, almost expecting the question.

"Yeah. In fact, I was his first apprentice. Why do you think I was chosen for this mission? Other than my obvious skill, of course." Now that she thought about it, putting the fishnet clad woman on this mission _did_ make a lot of sense. Who better to train herself and Naruto to fight Orochimaru than his very first student? Chances are, she knew a lot of his tendencies and tricks depending on how long ago she'd trained under him, and between Jiraiya, Anko, and herself, they could basically piece together what the snake sannin would try to do! She glanced over at Naruto to see if he'd realized this fact too. Predictably, he hadn't.

"Ah! No wonder you're so creepy! Why the hell would Baa-chan make me go on this mission with _you_?!" All three of the other travelers sweatdropped simultaneously.

"...You're not very bright, are you, brat? We'll have to work on your brainpower a bit over these next few years." The blond crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. "Anyway, Jiraiya-sama, why don't you go next? Oh, and if you keep ogling my chest like that, you'll wake up a few inches shorter; _if you know what I mean_." She produced a sharpened kunai from her sleeve for added effect, idly spinning it around on her finger as a warning. The man cleared his throat loudly and nervously turned forward again.

"Ahahaha...as you all know, I'm Jiraiya-sama, the great Toad Sage of Konoha! I like..._gathering information_, and I dislike stingy women." He looked over pointedly at Anko. "My hobbies are writing, and my dream, like Anko here, is to kill Orochimaru to make up for letting him get away in the past. I'd also like to become the world's all-time best selling author!" Naruto snorted loudly at his introduction.

"You didn't mention how much of a pervert you are, Ero-sennin!" Jiraiya reached back and bopped the boy on the head.

"I've told you to stop calling me that, squirt! Why don't you go next?" The blond angrily rubbed his head but complied.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen, training, and all my precious people! I hate the three minutes that I have to wait after I put the hot water in ramen, Sasuke-teme, and people that try to hurt my friends. My hobbies are eating ramen and training with my friends! My dream is to become the Rokudaime Hokage of the village, and also to bring Sasuke-teme back to Konoha, even if I have to break every bone in his body to do it." Tayuya laughed loudly at his dream.

"Good luck with that one. The way you are now, that Uchiha faggot will wipe the floor with your shitty ass." Naruto childishly stuck his tongue out at the foulmouthed girl. "Anyway, it's my turn." She idly flipped her long red hair over her shoulder and smirked.

"The name's Tayuya. I like music, training, and fucking people up. I don't like fatasses, six-armed freaks, Siamese twins, or bony fuckers who act as a certain faggot's personal fucktoy." She grinned wider when Naruto snickered at the references. "I also don't like people who can't appreciate good music and perverts." Jiraiya gave her a wounded frown, causing the boy to break out into a whole new fit of giggles. "My hobby is playing the flute, and my dream...well..."

She paused for a few seconds as she thought over what she would say next. To be honest, she'd never thought much about having dreams or ambitions. Up until today, she'd never had to. When she lived in the Sound, she did whatever the fuck Orochimaru wanted her to do no matter what the risks or consequences. He decided her dreams and ambitions for her, something that was both a blessing and a curse at the same time.

Her eyes drifted to the clear blue sky above them. She couldn't for the life of her think of one thing that she wanted to do with her life. Sure, she could say that she wanted to kill Orochimaru, but what then? What would she do after that? Would she no longer have a reason to live? A frown appeared on her face as she realized that she hadn't felt this lost and hopeless since she'd woken up in the Konoha General Hospital.

Those first few days in Konoha were an absolute hell. Confronted with interrogators, hostile nurses, and the fact that she'd never walk again, she'd seriously considered biting off her own tongue to escape from it all. All of her teammates were dead, and her oh-so-illustrious leader was probably off fondling the nutsack of his newest playtoy, leaving her for dead in that faggot infested shithole of a village. Even when she'd basically had to fend for herself on the streets of her hometown, she didn't feel quite as demoralized as she did sitting alone in that tiny hospital bed.

Predictably, her thoughts immediately turned to the blond walking at her side. He hadn't known how close she had been to death, and she vowed to never tell him. It'd do nothing but worry him, and by association, herself. There was nothing she hated more than being coddled and tended to like a helpless child, and knowing Naruto, he would do just that until he was sure she'd never think about suicide again.

"Let's stop here for lunch. It looks to be around twelve already," Jiraiya cut in, noticing her despondent expression. Although she was unaware, it had been nearly five minutes since she'd stop speaking. She blinked in surprise but nodded her agreement, somewhat happy to have a distraction from her downwardly spiraling thoughts.

The group of four quickly found a small clearing just off the main path to settle down in. It looked to be a fairly common resting place, if the already established fire pit was any indication. Large green trees provided a small amount of cover from any nosy people that happened to walk by, and even larger trees circled off the encampment from the rest of the woods. They each settled down on one of the four fallen logs encircling the campfire. As she pulled a couple of the ramen cups leftover from that morning out of pack, she glanced up at the older man with a mildly curious expression.

"So where the hell are we, anyway?" Jiraiya rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Well, I'd say we're about one fourth of the way to Otafuku Gai. In other words, we have another six or so hours before we get to our first stop." He lifted an eyebrow as the girl pulled a kettle and her canteen out of her pack. "You're going to go through the trouble of starting a fire for two cups of ramen?" he asked, watching amused as she poured most of the liquid into the small metal pot. She snorted loudly and shook her head.

"Fuck that! This is a special kind of kettle. It's basically fireproof, and can handle a direct stream of flames from any source." She performed a few handseals and placed her hand to her mouth. "Katon: Karyū Endan," she muttered, taking a deep breath. As she exhaled, a thin stream of fire shot from her mouth, directly hitting the bottom of the small metal kettle.

She used as little chakra as possible to keep the flames completely under her control, not wanting to risk it getting out of hand like the last time she'd tried to perform it. Orochimaru was pretty pissed off about the loss of his favorite summon snake. In just under ten seconds the sound of boiling water was heard from the device, and she immediately canceled the jutsu and picked the pot up by its handle.

"Whoa! You know fire jutsu too?!" Naruto yelped, thoroughly surprised with how easily she executed the technique. He didn't even think Sasuke knew that move! The girl only nodded and poured half of the hot water into his open cup.

"Yeah, but it's not really my thing; I'm better at Earth Style ninjutsu. Anyway, what're you guys gonna eat?" Unsurprisingly, Anko emerged with a small plate wrapped in plastic wrap.

"Dango!" She tore the obstructing material away from her food and wasted no time in digging in.

"You all are so domestic! Whatever happened to living off of the land? Eating ration bars to survive?" All three of his companions regarded him with a deadpan expression.

"That might've worked when you were a genin, but this is fifty years later. We don't eat that meat flavored cardboard you guys were subjected to," Anko said, taking another joy-filled bite out of her meal. "Besides, I distinctly remembering you buying a huge bag of packed onigiri just this morning." The man laughed nervously and pulled one of the aforementioned items of food out.

"Ah, you saw me? Well, since you already know..." He easily finished the riceball off in just under four bites, tossing the used wrapper into the fire pit. He waited for the others to finish their meals before regarding each of them with a serious expression. "Before we do anything else, I think it's time we get any misunderstandings or questions about this mission cleared up." Anko nodded, tossing what was left of her trash into the pit along with Jiraiya's.

"I agree. I need you brats to understand what we're doing, and why we're doing it." Both genin glanced at each other worriedly for a few seconds. Tayuya turned to look at the adults suspiciously.

"What do you mean?" Jiraiya sighed deeply, a sure sign that he wasn't going to enjoy explaining.

"First of all, the only reason you're on the mission is because you know the most about Orochimaru and his hideouts. If you suddenly decide to become tight-lipped about his whereabouts, we have no problem with escorting you back to the village and turning you over to the torture and interrogation department." Naruto frowned deeply and stood up from his seat. His eyes were burning with raw fury, and he clenched his fists tightly to control his anger.

"What kind of stupid condition is that?! It's not fair! Why did you wait until now to say something fucked up like that?!"

"Naruto! It's okay." He stared down at her angrily, but the placid look on her normally scowling face told him everything he needed to know. His anger gave way to helplessness, and he peered down at her with a slightly mournful expression.

"But, Tayuya-chan..."

"I already knew what the hag was planning the moment she offered to turn me into a genin of the Leaf, and to be honest, I didn't give a fuck. My ties with Orochimaru were completely severed the moment he sent someone to Konoha to kill me, and if giving up everything I know about him and his operation is all I need to do to get my revenge, then so be it." She closed her eyes complacently, ignoring Naruto's piercing stare. She could feel his eyes on her, searching intently for any shred of doubt or uncertainty. When he didn't find any, he slowly sat back down on the log, giving the man his cue to continue.

"That's good to hear. I really didn't want to be stuck with only the brat for three years," Jiraiya said, earning him a withering glare from his student. He sharply clapped his hands and regarded them with an exceedingly energetic grin. "Now then, on to the good stuff! As you've been told, the primary reason for this mission is for Naruto here to learn how to better control Kyuubi's chakra. Akatsuki will be coming for him in three or four years, so we need to do everything we can to prepare him for Itachi and Kisame's attack."

"Just Itachi and Kisame?" Anko asked, her eyebrows raising slightly.

"Well, those are the two members assigned to capture him. If Naruto can defeat one or both of them in combat, I think it's somewhat safe to say that he'll be able to beat anyone else they happen to send later. This is just an assumption, however."

"Heh, they can come right now for all I care! I'll beat all of them in one shot!" Naruto yelled, pumping his fist into the air. The jounin smirked widely and shook her head.

"Cute. The little genin thinks he can beat nine highly dangerous S-ranked nukenin alone." He frowned and turned a haughty glare upon Anko, raising his chin in a slightly arrogant manner.

"Ha! What do _you_ know? You don't know anything about me!"

"But _I_ do, and trust me, she's right. They'd hold you down and take turns fucking you up the ass if they wanted to." Both Jiraiya and Naruto winced at the mental image, shuddering at the thought of being violated by nine different men. Pleased with their reactions, she leaned back onto her pack and regarded the sannin with a mildly urging stare. "What's the secondary purpose of this mission?" Noticing the haunted expression still marring the males' faces, Anko looked over at Tayuya to answer her question.

"Even though you've probably already guessed it, the secondary purpose of this mission is to gather information and come up with a way to bring Orochimaru down before he can transfer to the Uchiha's body." At the mention of Sasuke, Naruto immediately snapped out of his horror induced daze.

"How're we going to do that?" he asked, tilting his head slightly to the left.

"Between Tayuya, Jiraiya-sama, and myself, we should be able to design an adequate infiltration or battle plan to counter anything Orochimaru might throw at us. We'll also be training the two of you so that you can hold your own during the fight." The redhead's eyes widened slightly, and she leaned forward to look them both in the eyes.

"Wait, you're training me too?!" Jiraiya and Anko exchanged surprised glances. Apparently, they hadn't been briefed at all by the Hokage.

"Of course. We need all the manpower we can get right now, especially given Konoha's current state. It'd be a waste to all parties involved if we didn't train you. I know this is a lot to put on your shoulders all at once, but there really is no other way," Jiraiya explained. He suddenly stood up and stretched, resecuring his scroll to his back. "There was a third purpose, but we'll worry about that later. Don't want Naruto to get the big head before we've even started."

"Huh? What do you mean?" the blond asked, looking up at the tall man with confusion.

"Nothing! Come on, children, let's not dawdle! We still have six hours of walking to do!" He quickly skipped off before they could ask anymore questions, leaving all three of his companions to stare after him curiously. Nevertheless, they stood up and hurried after the man, leaving their trash to be burned by the next group of weary travelers.

----------------------------

Haruno Sakura stumbled out of her bed, struggling to maintain her balance amongst the piles of clothing and food wrappers strewn about on the floor. She'd barely moved from the comfort of her bedsheets for three days, and hadn't eaten much except for the snacks she kept hidden in her room for such an occasion. Not that it mattered; for the most part, her appetite had left her.

Ever since Ino's visit just three days ago, a seemingly endless stream of tears constantly flowed from her eyes, blurring her vision and leaving her face streaked with the dried liquid. After much tossing, turning, and thinking, she had come to a horrifying conclusion; she was a fool.

She could hardly believe that she'd accused Naruto, the boy who saw Sasuke as his very own brother, of working with Orochimaru. No matter how they treated him, the blond always remained a loyal and trusting part of their team. He was the one that kept them together, even through the toughest times. She stared down at her hands in shame.

This wasn't her. What shamed her even more was the fact that it took the words of her best friend and rival to help her realize exactly how stupid she had been. It was astounding how she had allowed a person she'd never met to so easily sway her views of one of her closest friends.

She didn't act like this. Naruto might've been annoying sometimes, but he wasn't a traitor. A small pang of guilt passed through her at the thought of the word. There was no way he would ever do something like that; especially since this was the same boy who loudly proclaimed that he would be the Hokage one day. Vigorously shaking her head, she threw open her closet doors and picked out a clean outfit to wear. She'd apologize to Naruto first, and then go find Ino.

Sakura couldn't afford to lose another one of her teammates. Naruto was the only person in the world who truly understood what she was going through, as he was dealing with the same thing. She didn't want to get rid of one of her best friends because of some evil foulmouthed demon. It's not like she couldn't steer the boy away from the redhead given enough time. If worst came to worst, she could offer to date him if he promised to never speak to the girl again. As far as she was concerned, it was a small price to pay for the safety of one of her teammates.

With that thought in mind, she hurried into the upstairs bathroom for a quick shower before rushing down the stairs to accomplish her mission.

"Sakura-chan? Is that you?" her mother asked, coming out of the kitchen. The woman's face lit up at the sight of her only daughter dressed and ready to leave. She hadn't seen her in nearly a week, and was just about to ask for help from the girl's teacher. "Oh, Sakura-chan, I'm so glad you're alright!" Sakura smiled lightly at the woman but continued to the door. This wasn't the time to explain to her mother what was going on. She wouldn't understand anyway.

"Hi, mom. I'm in a rush right now, but we can talk when I get back, okay?" She speedily opened the door and disappeared through the doorway.

"Sakura-chan, wait! Ino came by this morning and --"

"I'll be right back!" Turning towards the center of the village, the pink-haired kunoichi ran full speed to get to Naruto's apartment building. She reached the rundown flat in a matter of minutes, bounding the steps two at a time until she reached his front door. She took a deep breath to calm herself before knocking purposefully on the door, confident that everything would go exactly as she had planned. Naruto would open the door, she'd apologize and ask him to take her out, and he'd never speak to that other girl again. It was flawless, especially knowing how easily she could manipulate him.

Unfortunately, nothing happened after ten seconds of waiting, so she lifted her fist and banged a little harder on the flimsy wooden door. She waited another ten seconds before frowning. It was possible that he hadn't come back from training for lunch, so she ran back down the stairs to check his usual training ground.

Surprisingly, the grounds were completely devoid of life, the only things moving being the treetops in the wind. Sakura's frown deepened as she looked up into the sky. It was a little late for lunch, but it was possible that he'd already stopped by Ichiraku's. With that thought in mind, she quickly spun on her heel to run back to the Market District.

"Excuse me!" she called, stepping into the small ramen stand. The old man and Ayame looked up at the girl and smiled. It was often that one of his friends showed up without him.

"Ah, Sakura-san, what can I get for you?" the girl asked, lifting her pad to take her order. Sakura shook her head as she struggled to catch her breath. Obviously, a week of no training had its effects.

"I was looking for Naruto, but I guess he's not here. Tell him I stopped by if he comes again, okay? Thank you!" She once again sprinted from the stand to look for her missing teammate.

"Sakura-san! Wait! Naruto-kun..." Ayame frowned lightly and placed a hand on her hip. "Well, that was weird. Didn't she know he was leaving for his mission this morning?" The owner only shrugged and shook his head, placing a fresh batch of noodles into the furiously boiling pot.

Sakura was quickly running out of options. She'd checked his usual haunts, and all three of them had yielded similar results. Down to her last idea, she hesitantly opened the door to the Yamanaka Flower Shop. The bell chimed noisily, immediately alerting the person at the cashier. Ino straightened up and shot her widest smile at the incoming customer.

"Good afternoon! Welcome to the Yamanaka...oh, _Sakura_. What're _you_ doing here?" The blond's expression suddenly changed from one of indifference to concern as she took in her former friend and rival's condition. Even if they were on less than friendly terms at the moment, she still cared deeply for the girl's safety. "Are you alright?" she asked, beginning to step around the corner. Her friend nodded and approached the counter, sighing with unhidden frustration. Ino was the last person she wanted to talk to, but she didn't have much of a choice.

"I'm fine, it's just that...I can't find Naruto anywhere. I was hoping maybe you would know." A funny look crossed over Ino's face, something that didn't go unnoticed by her rival. "What?" she inquired, taking a step closer.

"Didn't your mom tell you that I came by this morning?" When the girl shook her head, she sighed. "Naruto left for a mission this morning. Me and everyone else saw him off." Sakura frowned and leaned against the counter top. Perhaps she should've talked to her mom for a bit that morning.

"I see. Well, I guess it's not so bad. I'll just tell him when he gets back." She turned her head to look at her childhood friend. "When's he coming back, anyway?"

"In three years." The silence in the small shop was deafening. The pink-haired kunochi's arms fell slack at her side, causing Ino's brows to furrow. Judging by her actions, this wasn't going to be pretty.

"T-three years?!" She shrieked, staring disbelievingly at Ino, "Why three years?! What kind of mission is it?! You're joking, right?!" The blond blinked a few times to think through the questions, placing a calming hand on the other girl's shoulder.

"I don't know the details, but it's some kind of training mission. He left with Jiraiya-sama, Anko-san, and Tayuya." She paused to gauge her rival's reaction, and satisfied that she hadn't completely freaked out yet, she continued. "I tried to let you know, but your mom said you weren't feeling well."

"N-no way...three years..." her head suddenly snapped up to look at Ino. "How long ago did he leave? Maybe I can still catch up before it's too late!"

"Around six hours ago. Sorry..." A sickening feeling made its way into the bottom of Sakura's heart. In her self-centered depression, she'd completely neglected and missed the departure of her only remaining teammate. There was no doubt in her mind that he'd come back stronger than ever, and she wished more than anything that she could reverse time far enough to at least watch the back of his orange jacket as he walked away from the village. Her emerald green eyes jumped back up to meet Ino's own sympathetic blue ones as she remembered something her friend had said.

"...did you say he left with _Tayuya?!"_

-------------------------------------

"We're here!"

An enthusiastic Naruto smiled as they entered the festive village of Otafuku Gai, his eyes shining with excitement and adventure. He looked over the many different shops and attractions that the town had to offer, already making a mental checklist of things to check out or buy. Sensing his intentions, Anko firmly grabbed the boy by the back of his jumpsuit.

"Not so fast, chibi. There's no shopping tonight."

"What?! Why not?!" he yelped, futilely struggling to slip out of her grip. She easily picked him up and lifted him to her eye level, dangerously narrowing her eyes to make her intentions known.

"One, because I said so. Two, we have a bunch of things to do tomorrow, and we all need to rest up." Jiraiya nodded his agreement, motioning for the small group to follow him into a large hotel. The woman dropped Naruto flat on his butt, earning a quiet giggle from Tayuya and a few anonymous snickers from the crowd walking by. He hastily pushed himself onto his feet and followed his teachers, leaving the still giggling redhead to bring up the rear.

"It wasn't that funny." His statement only caused her to laugh harder, and putting a hand on his shoulder for support, she lowered her head in an attempt to stop.

"Y-yes it...was! God, she made you look pathetic!" she gasped. The blond initially frowned at her open laughter, but eventually, a small smile appeared on his face. Even if it was at his own expense, it always made him happy to see his friends laughing and smiling -- especially the ever scowling Tayuya. Her rough and abrasive facade seemed like a distant memory to him now, and he almost wondered if this was the same girl he'd met during Sasuke's defection. At that moment, he resolved to make her laugh as much as he could during their training mission. He quickly schooled his face into a frown before she noticed his semi-happiness.

"Fine, but you don't have to laugh so hard." They walked into the hotel two at a time, Jiraiya and Anko leading the pack. The older man immediately reached for his pocket and pulled out a small number of bills.

"We'll split into two groups for the night. Naruto and I will share one room, and Tayuya and Anko will share the other. Unless Anko would like to room with me?" he leered, his eyes automatically falling to the woman's bust. A sharp pain in his thigh froze him in his tracks, and he looked down to see an abnormally sharp kunai pressed directly next to his pride and joy. "...Or not, ahaha..."

"A-actually, I like that idea..." Three surprised pairs of eyes turned to look at the nervously frowning redhead. She skillfully avoided their questioning stares, finding the stray strand of blond hair on her dark shirt extremely interesting. In all actuality, she really was wondering how it got there.

"Wait, you don't mind rooming with a guy?" the purple-haired woman asked, her eyebrows arching higher onto her forehead. When the girl shook her head, a mischievously evil grin spread onto Anko's face. She _thought_ that there was something strange about the way this girl was acting. To have served directly under Orochimaru and be so friendly with a Leaf genin in less than a month was more than a little strange, if not troubling. Various ideas began to sprout in her overly malicious mind, and with a swift hop to Naruto's side, she encased the boy in deep and seductive bear hug. "So you don't mind staying with Jiraiya-sama while I play with little Naru-chan here?" Both genin openly gaped at her suggestion.

"Naru-chan?!" the blond yelped, speedily disappearing from the woman's arms. He hid himself behind Tayuya, poking his head out from behind her back to glare at the still grinning jounin. Something about her smile reminded him a little too much of the snake sannin. "That's okay, I'll just room with Ero-sennin thank you very much!" Jiraiya himself was having a difficult time trying not to laugh.

The girl's face had immediately turned a light red when Anko put 'play with' and 'Naru-chan' in the same sentence, and Jiraiya wanted nothing more than to further aid his fellow teacher in the torment of their pupils. Still, they really needed to get an early night's rest as it was already approaching seven o'clock.

"Hai, hai, that's enough for now. You'll have plenty of time to play with Naruto once we leave the Fire Country." Okay, so he couldn't resist joining in a little bit. He felt a small sense of satisfaction when the boy visibly blanched. "Naruto will room with me, and you two will room together. No complaints? Good." He swiftly made his way up to the hotel desk, exchanging a small stack of low-value bills for two hotel room keys. "Come on, brat, I want to hit the baths and get a little research done before I turn in for the night."

The blond shot Tayuya an apologetic look as he followed his teacher, grumbling something about perverted hermits and freaky snake ladies on the way.

"Now then, shall we?" Anko asked, following the other two up the stairs. The redhead could only nod stiffly at the question, walking on near robotic legs to trail the group. Luckily, their rooms were only on the second floor, and they found their numbers in a matter of seconds. "I'm going to the springs. _Care to join me?_" The way the woman said it thoroughly freaked her out, and she idly noted that she hadn't had that feeling since she'd seen Orochimaru humping away at a fully naked Kimimarou. She quickly suppressed that brain damaging memory and stepped into the small hotel room.

There wasn't much in the room except for two beds, a nightstand, two chairs, a dresser, and a television. The walls were plainly decorated with beige and white flowered wallpaper, and a small fan hung prominently from the center of the ceiling. Both beds had matching beige comforters, and large white pillows adorned the top edge of the mattress. Tayuya flipped on the lights and tossed her bag onto the first bed she saw, her body soon following.

"I'm good. I'll take my bath here." The jounin shrugged and grabbed one of the complimentary white yukatas from the hook on the wall, closing the door behind her with a foot. She unabashedly let the loose tan trench coat slide down and off of her arms, and she undid the three small buttons that held the brown cotton skirt up on her waist. She then just as easily shimmied out of her one piece fishnet body suit and sandals, replacing them with the pair of white slippers she found sitting directly beneath the yukatas. Anko looked over at Tayuya with a mildly curious expression, noticing the shocked look on her face.

"What? Haven't you ever seen a woman's body before?" The girl immediately scowled and turned her head away from the fully naked woman, a light blush dusting her cheeks.

"Yeah, but I didn't expect you to fuckin' strip without any kind of warning!" Anko shrugged again and pulled the yukata on over her body, opening the door while looking back at the foulmouthed genin.

"Get used to it. You'll be seeing a lot more of this hot piece of ass over the next three years." With one last wink, she disappeared through the doorway and slammed the door behind her. Tayuya openly sighed and lie back on her bed, staring blankly up at the plain white ceiling.

"Great, I'm stuck on this goddamn mission with two perverts and an idiot. Fan-fucking-tastic." With another heavy sigh, she hefted herself up onto her feet and grabbed the last remaining yukata off of the hook. Maybe a bath would help her relax some.

--------------------------------

_'Why...is it a duck?'_

_'Shut up! I wanted the most popular one, Chappy the Rabbit, too!'_

_'I see...you wanted the rabbit..'_

_'What's that look for?! You dare to insult me?!'_

Naruto laughed out loud as the black-haired girl on the television planted her foot on top of the main character's head. The show was apparently gaining massive popularity among both boys and girls around his age, and he could certainly see why. Ironically enough, he could definitely see Tayuya acting the same way. A quiet knock at the door interrupted him from his show, and he hesitantly got up to answer it.

"Who is it?" he asked, not taking any chances this time. He remembered the last time he'd opened the door without checking to see who it was first -- unexpectedly coming face to face with Uchiha Itachi's cold red eyes was an experience he'd never forget.

"Me! Open the goddamn door, I'm freezing my ass off out here!" The unmistakable voice of Tayuya pierced through the wooden door, and he wasted no time in unlocking and opening it. To his surprise, she was standing in front of him in little more than the hotel's white yukata, the belt of the garment wrapped securely around her waist. Then again, so was he.

"Tayuya-chan? What's up?" He stepped aside to let her in, and she immediately ran over to the heater sitting underneath the window. After warming herself up a little (there should be a limit to how cold it was allowed to get in this part of the country!), she eventually joined Naruto on his bed, sitting on the end to watch television along with him.

"I was bored, and it's no fun to watch TV by myself." She lifted an eyebrow at the show, recognizing it from when they were packing only two days earlier. "You still watch this?" The blond crossed his arms defensively.

"Hey, it's a cool show!" He paused for a few seconds and glanced over at Tayuya. "I wonder if Ero-sennin and Anko-sensei are gonna teach us how to use swords like those guys?" She snorted loudly at the question.

"Who knows. They'll probably be too busy perving it up with each other to teach us anything useful." Naruto laughed out loud at her statement, rolling onto his stomach to get more comfortable.

"You're right. I always knew Ero-sennin was a pervert, but I didn't think Anko-sensei would be one. I just thought she was crazy." She nodded her head and mimicked his position so that they were lying side by side on the end of his bed, a full body's worth of space between them. They watched it for a few more minutes until she couldn't bear it anymore, and she boredly leaned her chin on the palm of her hand.

"This show is fucking ridiculous. Soul Candy? Modified souls? As if shit like that could ever happen."

"You have to admit it's pretty cool, though." He watched as the fake soul ran around in the main character's body, sprinting at speeds he'd never seen before and jumping higher than even his sensei. "I want to be able to do that by the time we get back to Konoha!" he said, yawning widely at the end. Tayuya glanced at him from the corner of her eye.

"You could do that now if you didn't have such shitty chakra control." Naruto frowned and yawned again, this one lasting much longer than the previous one. Unwittingly, the redhead too began to yawn, not bothering to cover her mouth.

"Damnit, stop yawning! You're making me do it too." He shrugged and lie his head down onto the pillow, still intently watching the television.

"I can't help it if I'm tired. We were walking all day, you know." She nodded her head slightly in agreement. The fact of the matter was that he was right, and she really didn't feel like arguing at the moment. She was feeling a little tired too; even moreso now that her teammate was yawning up a storm. Her head dropped onto her arms, and the TV show was quickly forgotten as she felt her mind began to drift towards unconsciousness.

"I'm just gonna take a short nap. Wake me up when it goes off." Naruto grunted out a response, and in a matter of seconds, she was out cold. Unfortunately, she hadn't noticed that he too was on the verge of falling asleep, and he soon abandoned the shounen anime in favor of catching a few winks before his sensei returned from the hot springs. A few winks turned into hours, and as both genin slept comfortably side by side on the queen sized bed, their minds were filled with thoughts and ideas of what the next day would bring.

--------------------------------------

**AN: Beginning of Part 2. Don't know if I should put Jutsu translations at the end or not, since there'll be an onslaught of them in this part of the story; Yes? No? And, thanks for all the awesome reviews! **


	17. Chapter 17

**Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 17 ****  
**

A lone figure sat hunched over a large, wooden desk, his left eye carefully analyzing each and every word on the scroll. He'd originally been pleased to find that there was so much information available on the mysterious kunoichi, including the fact that she used to be a shinobi of the Sound village.

Unfortunately, there were many things about the girl that left him in the dark. Her medical records revealed that she'd undergone some kind of invasive surgery, but it didn't mention what the operation was for. The papers only told him that it was an extensive and chakra exhausting process; something that didn't help him at all. He rested his good hand beneath his chin. That woman was tricky.

He had to admit that he'd vastly underestimated the intelligence and prowess of the current Hokage. It was extremely difficult to piece together the information he needed, and even harder to figure out exactly what it was she was planning. _Sarutobi_ was easier to circumnavigate than this troublesome wench! A frustrated sigh escaped from his lips.

There wasn't much he could do at this point in time. The girl had already left on a highly classified S-rank mission the day before according to her profile, so kidnapping her was out of the question. He also couldn't find any trace of the Kyuubi container whatsoever. Danzou thoughtfully narrowed his eyes. There was a chance that they were on the mission together, but the last time he checked, the boy had been a mere genin only a year out of the Academy. The prospect that he was on the mission was highly impossible.

He leaned back in his chair and sighed again. As annoyed as he was with the situation, he was actually pretty intrigued. Not many people could boast about outsmarting the old war monger, but the younger blond woman was doing a remarkable job thus far. She'd never know, of course, but his respect for her knowledge unknowingly grew a bit.

Out of ideas, he scanned the papers one last time in hopes of finding something he'd overlooked before. He started at the top of the paper, and began to recite her profile aloud.

"Satou Tayuya, age fourteen, birthday unknown. Red hair, brown eyes, 148 centimeters tall, 38.2 kilograms, blood type A." Nothing out of the ordinary there. "Instated as a genin last month. Has completed one B-rank mission, and is in the process of completing a classified S-rank. Former shinobi of the Sound village, all charges against her dropped at the behest of the Hokage." His eyebrows furrowed as he read on.

There was no indication as to her skills, intelligence level, or whether or not she had a kekkai genkai. Needless to say, he was horribly annoyed. He loudly snapped his fingers, immediately summoning the black-haired boy who had yet to fail him.

"Bring me a copy of the village records for this week. I want to know who has left and entered the village over the past two days." The boy bowed lowly before his leader.

"Hai, Danzou-sama." He disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the scheming man to his own thoughts. Danzou shook his head and chuckled darkly, a small, mildly amused smirk spreading onto his face.

"It's only a matter of time, Tsunade. I always win."

-------------------------------

She was warm.

Never in her life had she ever felt so comfortable while sleeping. Usually, she was forced to remain at least semiconscious as a result of her shinobi training. It was exceedingly dangerous and careless to go into a deep sleep alone, as she'd learned from the constant attacks by her teammates during her first few nights in the Sound village. While it was certainly a useful skill, it also placed a substantial amount of stress on her mind and body over time.

Now, however, she found that she couldn't wake up. For some reason, she felt completely safe and secure in this small town outside of Konoha, and she'd give anything to get a few more nights like this one. She sighed and snuggled deeper into the eerily soothing pillow. Perhaps it wasn't so bad to let herself relax every now and then. She hadn't realized exactly how good it felt to get a full night of imperturbable sleep, and no matter what it took, she'd get one of these hotel pillows for herself. They were damn cozy.

A sudden flash of light interrupted her from her ceaseless rest. She hadn't heard anything about a thunderstorm on last night's weather forecast, and the lightning was quickly annoying her. Tayuya shut her eyes tighter to block out the sporadic sparks, digging her face deeper into the soft cotton of the pillowcase. She wasn't quite ready to wake up yet, and she'd do everything in her power to hang on to those last few minutes of precious sleep.

The unmistakable sound of muffled giggling reached her ears, and she immediately snapped her eyes open and hopped up onto her knees. She blinked a few times to gain her bearings, her vision eventually becoming clear enough to see both Jiraiya and Anko looking down at her with devilish grins on their faces. The room was imperceptibly dark, signifying that it was early morning at best, and thin rays of light streamed in through the open window. Her eyes dropped to the small silver device in the jounin's hand, and narrowing her eyes in suspicion, she realized that it was her camera.

"What's going on?!" she spat, her luxurious sleep immediately forgotten. Their grins only widened, and both teachers simultaneously pointed at something to her left. She glared at them for another few seconds before skeptically turning her head. To her amazement, one Uzumaki Naruto was wantonly lying on the bed next to her, a miniscule amount of drool seeping out of the open corner of his mouth. Her own mouth opened in horror as she realized that the pillow she'd been snuggling up against all night was her idiot of a ninja teammate.

Her gaze traveled between the blond and the camera numerous times before something in her mind clicked, and she grabbed the boy by the front of his yukata. She shook him frantically, doing her best to wake up the boy up so that she could yell at him. After a few seconds of angry jarring, Naruto's sleepy blue eyes slowly opened to look disorientedly into Tayuya's angry brown ones.

"Mornin', Tayuya-chan," he mumbled, eyelids once again drooping shut. She frowned deeply and smacked him on the head, instantly waking him up.

"Don't '_Tayuya-chan'_ me! You were supposed to wake me up when the fuckin' show went off!" The boy yawned widely, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Sorry, guess I fell asleep." That was it. Tayuya's right eye began to twitch uncontrollably, and she tightened her grip on the boy's yukata.

"You _guess_ you fell asleep?!" she yelled, killing intent pouring off of her in waves. Her anger increased by tenfold when he suddenly turned his head away from her. "Look at me when I'm fucking talking to you!" Naruto coughed lightly and pointed at her torso.

"Uh...your yukata..." The redhead blinked confusedly at his words. She lowered her head and looked down at herself to see that the belt of the white garment had become undone sometime during the night, and the naked area between her breasts was fully exposed to his compunctious eyes. She gaped mortified for all of ten seconds, amazed that she had missed something so obvious. Her hands eventually conceded to her urgent mental commands, and letting go of the blond's own yukata, she turned her back on the other occupants of the room.

"My, how scandalous! Only the second day out of Konoha and you two are _already_ sleeping together! When you said you wanted to room with Naruto, I didn't think you'd go as far as sleeping in the same bed," Anko joked, tossing the camera playfully into the air. "I got some great pictures! I can't wait to see how they come out." Tayuya snapped her head around to glare at the woman, cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

"S-shut up! who the fuck said you could touch my camera?!" She turned her angry eyes on Naruto. "Don't just sit there, dumbass! Get it!"

"What? Why?" he asked, cocking his head to the side. "It's not like we did anything. We were on different sides of the bed, right?" Both Jiraiya and Anko burst out in a whole new fit of giggles, confusing the boy even more. "What's so funny?" Anko slowly shook her head, struggling to get a reign on her laughter.

"Nothing you need to worry about -- for now," the woman chuckled, eventually calming down enough to continue speaking. "I'll give you your camera back later. Right now, we need to get dressed for training." She walked out of the room to go back to her own with a positively evil grin, leaving Tayuya alone with both males.

"Training?! Really?! Finally!" Naruto yelled, parading around the room. If she weren't so pissed off and embarrassed, Tayuya might've actually found the scene amusing. Jiraiya rolled his eyes and glanced at the girl from the corner of his eye.

"You should probably get going. We want to be out of here sometime within the next half hour." She glared at the man but nodded, tying the belt of her yukata a little tighter as she passed him on the way to her room. As soon as she was out of earshot, Jiraiya approached Naruto with a disturbingly perverted grin. "So, how was she? Wild and fiery? Or shy and timid?" he asked, producing a pen and scroll from somewhere within his vest. "She looks like the wild type, but you can never be sure with women!" The blond regarded his sensei with a bewildered frown.

"Huh? What do you mean, Ero-sennin?" The man's face visibly fell, and he placed the items back into his vest pocket.

"You don't remember anything, do you?" When the boy shook his head, Jiraiya sighed deeply and crossed his arms. He'd had such a great idea for his next book, too. "Fine. Get dressed and meet us downstairs in twenty minutes. We have a lot of work to do." Naruto nodded excitedly and hopped off of the queen sized bed, rushing over to his pack for a change of clothes.

Fifteen minutes later, he bounded down the steps of the hotel's main staircase. To his surprise, all three of his traveling companions were already waiting for him.

"It's about damn time," Tayuya muttered, her arms crossed angrily over her chest. She was wearing the same exact thing that she was wearing yesterday; not that he could talk. He noticed that her hair was wild and untamed, sticking out in at least ten different directions. He also noticed that she refused to look at him, instead concentrating on something off to her left. A small frown appeared on his face at her furious expression. Hopefully, she wasn't too angry at him for forgetting to wake her up.

"Alright, let's go." Jiraiya led the group out of the hotel. They walked in a single file line down the empty streets, heading towards the outskirts of town. There was an abundance of forestry surrounding the small village, creating a natural training area for the genin. It seemed to be completely void of wildlife, the exception being the loudly buzzing insects and gaily chirping birds. After a short walk through the lush greenery of the forest, the group eventually came to a large clearing. The edge of the area overlooked the large town, closed off by a small wooden fence. Deep green grass covered the ground of the field, and a few trees were littered throughout.

"Hey, I remember this place!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning widely. "This was where Ero-sennin taught me the first step of the Rasengan!" The man scowled at the nickname, hitting the boy on top of his head with a fist.

"Stop calling me that, brat! Especially in front of the ladies!" He stuck his tongue out at Jiraiya but chose not to comment. Instead, he looked up at his two teachers in curiosity and excitement.

"So what're we gonna do? Are you gonna teach us some awesome new jutsu?!" For the first time since they'd left the hotel, Anko decided to speak.

"Before we teach you two anything, we need you to demonstrate exactly what techniques you know. After that, you two will spar so that we can judge your taijutsu and battle skills."

"I'll go first!" the blond yelled, jumping up and down. The woman nodded and motioned for him to step forward. He smirked cockily and placed his hands into the familiar cross sign. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Immediately, five identical clones of himself appeared next to him. Four of them suddenly poofed out of existence, and the remaining clone began to help Naruto form a bright blue ball of chakra. "Rasengan!"

Tayuya raised an eyebrow at the jutsu. So that was the Rasengan he'd mentioned a couple of weeks ago. Now that she thought about it, she remembered him trying to hit Sakon and Ukon with that same technique when they were trying to escort Sasuke to Orochimaru. It didn't look all that impressive, and seemed to be more flashy than anything. That is until he slammed it into a nearby tree. A large, circular hole appeared directly in the middle of it, and a few seconds later, the tree snapped in half and fell.

_'Whoa', _she thought, doing her best to hide her surprise. _'It grinds into whatever it touches, causing massive internal damage rather than external. I'd hate to be hit by that.' _By the time she snapped out of her surprise induced daze, he was already forming handseals.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" A small puff of smoke appeared in front of him, revealing a tiny tadpole hopping around on the ground. All four of the shinobi sweatdropped. Even the summoner had to admit that his display was pathetic, despite the creature having both arms and legs. Still, Naruto turned around with another wide grin, his hands placed haughtily on his hips. Anko, however, looked largely unimpressed.

"That's it?" she asked, a deadpan expression on her face. "Those are all the techniques you know?" His smile turned into a frown.

"Well...I still have my Oiroke no Jutsu and the Academy jutsu..." The woman sighed loudly, rubbing a tired hand over her face.

"Nevermind. You, Tayuya, go next." The redhead walked up to stand in her teammate's spot, snorting softly as they passed each other. She started to form a complex set of seals, but stopped halfway through.

"I need a target to demonstrate genjutsu," she said, slowly moving her hands again. Jiraiya shrugged and stepped forward.

"You can use me; I'm pretty good at dispelling a genjutsu once it's been cast, if I don't say so myself." Tayuya quickly finished the handseals and pointed her hands in the man's general direction.

"Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu." A swirl of leaves surrounded him, and his eyes widened slightly before he formed a simple release handsign. He nodded to show that it worked, and she quickly started in on her next jutsu. "Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu." The area around them shimmered lightly, and suddenly, they were all standing in the middle of the desert. For his part, Naruto was floored. He had no idea that she was this good at genjutsu, believing that she needed her flute to do anything substantial.

"Impressive. You're a genjutsu type, huh?" Anko asked, dispelling the illusion with a wave of her hand. The redhead slowly nodded and started in on another set of seals.

"I won't be able to show you everything, since my chakra level isn't that high. Kanashibari no Jutsu." She widened her eye slightly, causing Jiraiya to momentarily freeze. He nodded again, signifying that the paralysis jutsu worked. Naruto noticed that a small sweat was beginning to break out on her forehead.

"Are you okay?" he asked, worriedly watching as she began to form another set of seals. He knew better than anyone what it was like to suffer from chakra exhaustion. She scowled lightly and didn't bother to look in his direction.

"I'm fine. Doton: Doroku Gaeshi." She kneeled down and struck the ground with as much strength as she could muster, and not even a second later, a small wall of dirt rose up in front of her. It only covered her kneeling form, and she stood up to immediately begin another set of seals. "Doton: Retsudotenshō."

A small sinkhole appeared directly in front of her, swirling in a counter clockwise direction. Jiraiya smirked softly at the jutsu.

"Well, this brings back memories. I haven't seen this jutsu since the Iwa-Konoha war. Bastards nearly trapped my entire squad in this thing." She shrugged disinterestedly and pulled her flute from her weapons pouch to demonstrate her specialty jutsu. She wasn't one to sit back and listen to the stories of old people, especially not from a guy she didn't particularly care for.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu." She placed her hand on the ground, and with a puff of smoke, three huge zombies appeared directly behind her. The first one was probably the freakiest of the three. It's entire torso was wrapped up in bandages, including his huge arms. The top half of his head was covered in the same bandages, and a large amount of needles stuck out of the bandaged area. Its head was leaned all the way back, forcing him to stand backwards in order to look forward. Except for the dark brown pants and Orochimaru's famous purple assbow, it was completely void of clothing.

The second zombie wasn't nearly as scary as the other two. It wore a simple black chinese style jacket and pants, separated by the same belt as the first one. Arm and shin guards adorned his limbs, and he carried a huge studded bat over his shoulder. The only thing creepy about him was his head; his face was impossible to see underneath his shoulder blade length hair, giving him a mystic and eerie appearance.

The third and final zombie looked like something out of a horror flick. His torso was fully exposed, and strange blades were wrapped tightly against his arm with bandages. The blades looked to be made from the claws of some long dead beast, giving him a primitive appearance. The monster's eyes were covered by a simple white cloth, and deep scars were carved into the top of his bald shaved head. Except for the long hanging moustache and goatee, there wasn't a single human thing about his face. Like the other two, his mouth was stitched shut and he wore a large purple rope belt around his waist.

"W-what are those?!" Naruto yelped, backing away from the monstrosities. He'd never heard of anyone summoning things like that. Anko grinned widely at the girl.

"A gift from Orochimaru, no doubt. I remember when he sealed these guys away. Can you control em?" Tayuya snorted loudly. What the hell kind of question was that? Lifting the flute to her lips, she began to play her Melody of Death. Simultaneously, the three zombies jumped into the air, performing a wide array of flips and acrobatics belying their huge forms. With each note, the individual monsters executed a different action, and if he didn't know any better, Naruto would say they were moving of their own free will. She stopped in the middle of her song, panting heavily as she smirked cockily at the purple-haired woman.

"Is that enough control for you?" The jounin nodded and walked over to the redhead.

"I suppose there's hope for you yet. That's all I need to see for now; you're obviously running a little low on chakra from performing so many high level techniques in one day. Besides, you need to save some energy for the sparring match." The summons disappeared in a huge wave of smoke, blowing dust and leaves everywhere.

"Tch, that's not so cool!" Naruto sniffed lightly, crossing his arms indignantly. Tayuya placed her flute back in its case and stared over at the blond with a haughty grin.

"Says the guy who only has three fuckin' jutsu." He gaped angrily and pointed his finger at the amused girl.

"We'll see who wins in the taijutsu match!" He stomped over until he was standing directly in front of her, noticing for the first time that they were about the same height. Jiraiya chuckled as he backed away from the two, joining Anko at the edge of the clearing.

"Personally, I've got my money on Tayuya here. I don't think you can handle one of Orochimaru's elites in a one on one taijutsu match." Naruto frowned deeply at his sensei, annoyed that the man thought so lowly of him.

"What do you know?! I've gotten way better since you last trained me!"

"Oh? I guess we'll see, then." Jiraiya leaned against the tree behind him to get more comfortable. "Basic rules apply. No ninjutsu, genjutsu, or kinjutsu allowed in this fight. Anything goes otherwise, including weapons, chakra, and any other ninja tools you may have. Ready?" When both genin nodded, he lowered his hand to signify the beginning of the match. "Go!"

The teens immediately separated, jumping back to put some distance between themselves and their opponent. Tayuya slowly moved into a basic taijutsu stance, testing the flexibility of her joints as she did so. She was exceedingly pleased to feel that they were just as loose, if not looser, than they were before she'd lost her legs. She kept her eyes trained on Naruto's form, already coming up with a plan to put the boy on his back in under five moves.

"I'll tell you now, Naruto. If you don't come at me with the intent to kill, this match is as good as mine." He vaguely remembered Kakashi saying something similar, and in typical Naruto fashion, rushed in towards his opponent without a plan. Tayuya sprang into action, anticipating the time before he'd reach her. She jumped high into the air, pulling two shuriken out of the pouch at her side. She spun counter clockwise in the air to gain some momentum, and at the peak of her turn, she threw the bladed wheels directly in front of the spot Naruto was going to step. Not wanting to be impaled, the blond dove forward at the last minute.

_'Perfect'_, Tayuya thought as she came down from the sky. She flipped forward and stuck out her leg, bringing it down directly on top of his head. His face dug deep into the already loose dirt, and with a small grunt of effort, she flipped herself backwards and onto her feet.

"Like I said, you'll never beat me if you think this is a friendly spar. You can't be _that _shitty." Naruto growled and pushed himself upright. She was going to pay, one way or another. Wiping the soil off of his face, he reached into his kunai holster and threw it directly at her forehead. She easily sidestepped the projectile weapon, and predicting his next move, she spun around on her left foot and smashed him in the face with the back of her right fist. It seemed as if he didn't know any other taijutsu except for '_run at your opponent and hope to get a lucky hit'_, so with a heavy sigh, she planted her left knee into his already off balance stomach. He flew nearly ten feet away, landing painfully on his back and rolling another few yards along the ground.

"Geez, she's kicking his ass," Anko muttered. "Didn't you train him for a bit? Why does he suck so much?" Jiraiya waved his hands in front of him defensively.

"Hey, he was that bad when I got him. Don't blame me!" The man winced as Tayuya ground a vicious uppercut into Naruto's chin. "At least it's obvious what we need to work on." She nodded her agreement and bit back a groan, already dreading the hours and hours of work they would need to put in.

"Hokage-sama didn't tell me he was this bad when she assigned me the mission. How is he even stillalive?" The sannin rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Now that he thought about it, Naruto seemed to win the majority of the fights he was in. He smiled slightly when the boy managed to kick his partner in the side, nearly knocking the redhead off of her feet.

"Well, part of it probably has to do with the Kyuubi. The Nine Tails heals all of his injuries within a reasonably small time frame, and he also supplies him with chakra when he needs it most. The other part is probably Naruto's own determination. He refuses go down when his friends or nindo are on the line. While an admirable trait for a shinobi, it's also very dangerous." Anko nodded again.

"Yeah, sometimes you have to know when to back down. That's another thing we'll have to drill into that deliciously soft skull of his." Her eye twitched slightly when the redhead kicked her teammate in the jaw, dropping him almost instantly. "What do you think about the girl?" Jiraiya narrowed his eyes in thought, scratching at his chin with the back of his fingernails.

"Not much, actually. While she can easily beat up on Naruto, her taijutsu skills are still below average. She makes a lot of wasted movements, and if Naruto were allowed to use his Kage Bunshin, she wouldn't stand a chance. Of course, this is normal for a genjutsu type." He suddenly chuckled out loud, earning him a curious glance from the woman at his side. "Although you have to admire her ruthlessness. Friend or not, she doesn't go easy on him." This time, both adults winced as she drove a powerful fist into his jaw. Luckily, the blond managed to roll with the blow to lessen the damage.

"Had enough yet?" Tayuya taunted, hands resting nonchalantly on her hips. She was a little annoyed to find that he wasn't using the taijutsu stance she'd taught him only a week before, and even more upset that he didn't seem to be trying at all. The blond pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, struggling to regain his balance. That last hit hurt. He growled and rushed her at full speed.

"Not even close!" He threw his left fist towards her midsection, only to have it parried and canceled by her right hand. Expecting that, he planted his right hand into the ground and flipped his left foot towards her face. She easily blocked the second attack with her left forearm, and drawing back a little to get some more power, she drove her remaining free palm into the boy's unprotected abdomen. Anko frowned when Naruto only fell onto his back before hopping right back up again.

"She doesn't have a lot of strength. Her blows don't seem to affect him much despite the brutality of them," she muttered. In a surprising turn of events, Naruto somehow managed to sweep the girl's legs out from under her, causing her to land flat on her butt. "Her stamina sucks, too. The more tired she gets, the more openings she allows her opponent to have. This can be a devastating disadvantage in an actual fight." Tayuya barely managed to block the foot heading straight for her face, and with a sloppy backflip, she put a substantial amount of distance between herself and her opponent.

"Lucky shot," She snorted, beckoning for the blond to attack. In reality, she felt her legs growing weaker and weaker with each passing second. They were horribly out of shape despite their flexibility, and if she didn't end this fight soon, they'd give out on her. Complying with her request, Naruto rushed her at full speed with a kunai in hand. Before he could even make a stab at her, Tayuya appeared directly in front of him, flicking the weapon out of his hand with her fingers. She skillfully threaded her pinky into the hole on the back of the kunai, and kicking his left knee out from under him, she sent him barreling to the ground with herself on top. The knife was placed dangerously at his throat, daring him to make a move.

"Alright, alright, we've seen all we needed to see," Jiraiya called, walking over to the genin with Anko at his side. Naruto groaned painfully as Tayuya got off of him, rubbing his stomach to relieve some of the pain. On the way down, she'd drove another knee into his sensitive abdomen to further injure his body.

"You okay?" the redhead asked, extending a hand to help him up. He took the offered appendage with a small frown.

"Yeah, but you didn't have to be so brutal!" He rubbed at the red spot on his cheek where she'd punched him earlier. It still felt a bit raw, but he could already feel the bastard fox healing the wound at a steady pace. She shrugged lightly and snatched her hand from his grip when he was on his feet again.

"I told you this wasn't a friendly spar. It's your own damn fault for underestimating me." A light chuckle from Jiraiya interrupted their short exchange.

"Actually, I don't think he was underestimating you at all. You're just better than he is." The blond childishly stuck his tongue out at his sensei. "In any case, we're done for the day. Anko and I will use the rest of the morning and afternoon coming up with a training regimen for you two, and we'll give you the results sometime either tonight or tomorrow." Tayuya frowned from her spot next to Naruto, not liking where this was going.

"So what the fuck are we supposed to do 'till then?" The purple-haired woman shrugged, shooing them with a perfectly manicured hand.

"Go shopping or play some games. There's plenty of stuff to do in this backwater town, so I doubt you'll get bored in only one day. If you want, you can also go back to your hotel room and snuggle up with little Naru-chan here some more." The redhead's face noticeably flushed, and she turned on her heel to stalk back down the path. She was embarrassed enough about it without the snake bitch bringing it up every chance she got.

"Hey, Tayuya-chan, what did she mean by that?!" Naruto called, following after her at a slow jog. Both Jiraiya and Anko looked after them with amused grins. If only he knew. The man glanced at his fellow teacher from the corner of his eye.

"Enjoying this?" He asked. If it was possible, her grin grew even more.

"Hell yes."

The genin walked back into the town at a leisurely pace. It was much more alive than it had been that morning, with people milling around and socializing at the different booths.. Tayuya glanced up at the sky to judge the time. Based on the position of the sun, it had to be around nine or ten o'clock; it was almost hard to believe that it'd been over two hours since they'd left the hotel.

"What do you wanna do now?" the blond asked, looking around at all the different attractions and stores. She motioned for him to follow her up the steps of the hotel.

"We're gonna do some shopping. There's no fuckin' way I'm gonna walk around with you looking like that for three years." He glanced down at his jumpsuit before angrily raising his eyes to meet hers.

"Hey! What's wrong with my jumpsuit!" The redhead almost felt like smacking him for asking such a stupid question, but restrained herself at the last minute. Hitting him wouldn't do anything except make herself feel better and further ruin the point that she was trying to make. She took a deep breath and fully turned around to look at him, stopping them right in the middle of the street.

"What's wrong with it? First of all, it's orange. That's like pinning a fucking bullseye to your back and begging some half-assed shinobi to kill you. It could give away your position during a mission that requires absolute stealth, and mine too by association." She lifted her second finger into the air. "Two, it's not very versatile. There are no slots to hide kunai or senbon needles in the sleeves of your jacket, and you only have the usual four pockets on your pants. Not to mention it's poorly fitted and restricts your movements. During our fight, I noticed that it severely limits your range of flexibility. There were shots that you could've landed on me had you not been wearing that piece of shit." Luckily, the blond didn't think to ask how she knew about his lack of pockets and weapon slots. The girl held up one last and final finger. "And three, it makes you look like an idiot." Naruto furrowed his brows.

"Hey! But--"

"Am I wrong?" He frowned deeply, sticking out his lower lip in a very childish fashion. She noticed that he tended to act that way a lot of the time.

"Yeah! It doesn't make me look like an idiot!" Tayuya slammed her palm into her face. When was the last time he looked in the mirror? Already tired of trying to be civil, she grabbed him by the back of his jumpsuit and dragged him up the stairs. She ignored the knowing smile she got from the hotel clerk, instead focusing intently on steps in front of her. She dumped him in front of his door, pointing forcefully at the wooden entrance.

"Get your money. We're going shopping." The boy glared at her but complied, using his key to unlock and enter the room. She hurried into her own room, grabbing her bag and slipping it onto her shoulders. It only consisted of Naruto's money and a couple pairs of underwear, but she didn't want to walk around town with it out in the open. She checked her pocket once to make sure that her own money was present before stepping out of the room and locking the door behind her.

When she'd counted the money last night, the total had come up to a surprising 57,000 yen; pretty fuckin' good for just reading a couple of stories to a group of kindergarteners. A small note had been tucked into the back of the envelope from Shizune:

_Tayuya-san,_

_ I suppose you're wondering why you received so much money for such a seemingly simple mission. In truth, the mission you and Naruto-kun completed was a B-rank. Each one of those children were related to the village council, and they pay good money to make sure that their children, grandchildren, and cousins are safe. Tsunade-sama and I also admittedly threw in a little extra so that you would be able to buy some decent clothing. Have fun on your mission! _

_P.S. - Tsunade-sama says not to let Jiraiya-sama touch your money._

Tayuya fully intended to use the money for its expected purpose, and she patted her fat pocket again for good measure. At that moment, her blond teammate emerged from his room with his frog wallet in hand. He grinned widely and held the purse up high.

"Let's go!"

They hopped down the stairs and out of the hotel towards the market area of the small town. Most of the stores consisted of simple roadside stands instead of the sturdy buildings that he was used to in Konoha. They sold a wide variety of items, including clothing, weapons, toys, and food. Shoppers were speedily walking around in front of and behind them, and the stand owners constantly called out to the genin about their super low prices or once in a lifetime deals. She led him all the way through the large vending district to a tall sophisticated looking building at the end of the street.

"The bank?" Naruto asked, looking up at the huge structure with no small amount of trepidation. "What're we doing here?" Tayuya grabbed him by the wrist, dragging him against his will into the bank. She glanced back at him with a slightly pleading frown on her face.

"Just trust me, okay?" He grunted slightly but followed, unable to say no to her request. He was a little nervous about entering a bank for the first time in seven years, remembering how the owner himself had chased him out before he even reached the front desk. Come to think of it, that had happened in most of the establishments he'd visited in Konoha. They marched directly up to the front desk, ignoring the curious stares of some of the patrons. Tayuya pushed him in front of her and pointed at his face. "He'd like to open a bank account." The woman at the counter blinked in surprise for a few seconds, looking first at Naruto and then at the girl behind him. Quickly regaining her sense, she placed a single white form and pen in front of him.

"Fill out this form first, and we'll send someone to help you shortly." The redhead nodded and motioned for her teammate to pick up the black ink pen. They looked over the paper together, between the two of them managing to fill out nearly the entire form in just under five minutes. Soon after, a short, stubby man in a pristine white suit and white gator boots emerged from one of the equally white cubicles. He grinned at them with a suspiciously greasy smile, exposing every one of his gold capped teeth. Ushering the two into his office, he closed the door behind them and strode over to his large mahogany desk.

"So, what kind of account are you looking to open?" he asked, sitting down in his high-backed chair. Naruto glanced nervously at Tayuya, unsure of what to say. She scooted her chair forward a few inches and crossed her arms on his desk, throwing the normally poised man off guard.

"We're really new to this whole banking thing. What do you suggest?" she inquired, looking up at the man with the most innocent gaze she could muster. She could literally see his dark brown eyes light up with sinister joy, and his crooked grin widened to impossible proportions.

"Well now, that depends on how much you're planning to invest." The girl nodded and took off her backpack. She shuffled around in the knapsack for a few seconds, and shooting Naruto an apologetic frown, she emerged with his gray box. His eyes immediately hardened in anger, and he looked over at her with no small amount of mistrust.

"That's my money! Tayuya, what the hell are you--" She slammed her hand over his mouth, immediately silencing his protests. She felt a tiny bit of hurt that he'd once again removed the -chan suffix from her name, but this was for his own good. Standing up, she dragged him outside of the office, smiling uneasily at the surprised banker.

"Excuse us, we'll be just a second." She shut the door behind them and pulled the blond to an isolated corner of the bank. He was still glaring maliciously at her, a gaze she never wanted to see directed at herself again. His eyes eventually moved away from her face to glare at a spot beside her, his disgust with her apparent on every one of his features. Swallowing apprehensively, she placed a calming hand on his shoulder and lowered her head to look him in the eyes. "Naruto, look at me." He continued to look away from her, so she tightened her grip on his shoulder a little more. "Naruto, look at me."

"Why? So you can tell me that you didn't steal my money?" he spat, gritting his teeth to control his rage. Tayuya's stomach tingled oddly, sending her anxiety levels even higher than they had been before. Still, she held fast in her objective, resolving not to move even an inch until he understood. She took another breath and briefly closed her eyes, struggling to keep her own temper from flaring. They stood there for a few minutes, neither one of them speaking. When he finally lifted his eyes to meet hers, she spoke again.

"You know that's not true." His eyes wavered slightly, showing that her words were getting through. "I'm just doing what's best for you." Angered, he pulled his shoulder out of her hold and once again averted his gaze.

"Isn't that my choice? Since when do you decide what's best for me?" Fuck, he was being difficult. She honestly didn't want to explain why she was helping him; it'd only cause problems for the both of them if she did. Unfortunately, she didn't have anymore options. Taking another deep breath, she squared her shoulders and frowned.

"Since the day you saved my life; and I'm not talking about when you killed that Sound bastard." Naruto looked up at her with a confused stare. "Naruto...on the day we met in the hospital, I was going to kill myself." She turned away so that she wouldn't have to see his expression. Another lapse of silence enveloped them, the only sounds coming from the civilians on the other side of the room. The blond hesitantly opened his mouth, determined to ask the question that both he and she knew were coming.

"Why didn't you?" he mumbled. It was a shock to hear that the loud, brash, and strong Tayuya that he'd come to like had actually been on the brink of committing suicide. It was even more surprising to hear that he'd been the one to stop her. His anger was temporarily replaced by fear at the thought of losing one of his friends so soon after gaining her, and he waited patiently for a reply. Tayuya easily felt his eyes examining and worrying over; something she'd been trying to avoid by not telling him about her momentary lack of strength.

"Fuck, I don't know!" she yelled, still refusing to meet his eyes. It was ironic that _she_ was the one now avoiding _his_ eyes. The civilians around them stopped their chatter to look curiously at the genin in the corner, whispering amongst themselves about what was going on. The girl lowered her voice until only Naruto could hear what she was saying. "I guess I just got so pissed at you that I forgot about it. And...you were kind of interesting." She flushed slightly at being so open with her feelings and immediately switched gears before she said something unnecessary. "Point is, I owe you. You'll probably say that I don't, but I always repay my debts. That's _my_ nindo."

He found that he couldn't argue with her reasoning, as forcing her to go against her nindo would be almost hypocritical. Still, he frowned deeply at the girl, crossing his arms for added emphasis.

"You could've just told me what you were planning." Tayuya snorted lightly at his words.

"No, I couldn't. You're too goddamn stubborn about these kinds of things, and you never would've gone along with it if I'd told you beforehand. I'm really trying to help you; just trust me, okay?" He stared into her light brown eyes, searching for any sign of deceit or ill-intent. She matched his searching gaze with a determined one of her own, and unable to find anything malicious, Naruto hung his head in defeat.

"Fine...but are you sure you know what you're doing?" The girl grinned and grabbed him by the wrist, pulling him back towards the office.

"I'm positive." She opened the door and stepped back inside, once again slipping on an innocent smile and sitting into the small wooden chair in front of the desk. It was a little tougher to maintain the grin after having such a stressful conversation, but the thought that she was repaying a debt helped her keep it up. "Sorry about that, we had to discuss how much money we wanted to save." The black-haired man's smile returned full force, and he waved his hand nonchalantly.

"Don't worry about it. So, have you decided...?" Putting an embarrassed hand over her mouth, Tayuya smiled sheepishly and nodded. It was hard to fight down the vomit that was threatening to spew out from her stomach at acting so girlishly nice.

"Oh, how careless of me! We wish to place this much into the account." She opened the box and placed most of the money onto the desk, causing the man's mischievous smile to widen even more. All of the bills and coins were arranged in perfect stacks, almost covering half of his large desk. She'd spent nearly an hour counting out and arranging the money the night before, already anticipating and planning for what would happen.

"Well, now! That's quite a stack you've got there! Have you counted it?" he asked, mouth nearly watering at the sheer amount of cash spread out in front of him. Naruto glanced nervously at Tayuya, unsure of what she was planning. She shot the boy a small conspiratorial smile to calm him down before answering the man's question.

"Yep! Exactly 1,200,000 yen!" The man whistled lowly, looking over the money with surprise.

"Ah, well let Shin-ojisan take care of this money for you! How about you put it all into a CD account?" The redhead grinned on the inside. He was falling directly into her trap. She tilted her head curiously and placed an innocent finger on her bottom lip.

"A CD account? What's that?"

"CD stands for Certificate of Deposit. Basically, you put your money in our bank for a set amount of time and we pay you to keep it there!" Naruto's eyes widened in understanding. So that's what she was planning! He leaned back in his chair a little, relaxing now that he was sure that she knew what he was doing.

"Ooh, I see! But how is that different from a regular savings account?" The old man smiled at her question. It seemed that she didn't know much about banking at all, and if he played his cards right, he'd be looking at a humongous Christmas bonus. He thanked the stars for sending him a couple of such naive brats.

"Well, with a CD account, you can't touch the money for a set amount of time. However, we also give you a higher interest rate. Instead of the normal two percent, we give you three!" She pretended to be excited, sitting up even straighter in her chair. A normal interest rate for a Certificate of Deposit was at the _least_ four and a half percent, and anything below that would be considered a rip-off. It was almost sickening to be acting so stupid, but this was absolutely vital to her plan.

"Wow, really?! We'll definitely take that CD thing!" The banker nodded and pulled a sheet of paper from his desk, writing a few things on it as fast as he could. He pushed the contract across the desk with what he thought was a comforting and trusting smile. To anyone else, however, the grin would look devious and greasy.

"Now, if you'll just sign here, we'll..."

"Hold the fuck up." The man's smile dropped as he watched the sugary sweet (but dumb) girl suddenly turn into a succubus from the deepest reaches of hell. Tayuya's face was the picture of evil, and something told him that all hell was about to break loose. "Does the owner know what kind of scam you're running here?"

"E-excuse me?" he stuttered, feeling dread beginning to pour into his soul. She stood up and slowly began to pace the length of the office, reading over the contract with an amused smirk.

"Hm, let's see. A twenty year certificate of deposit for 1,200,000 yen. Interest rate is three percent compounded annually, along with a twenty percent early withdrawal fee." She glanced up from the paper to study the man's expression. To her surprise, he was actually managing to keep a somewhat poised look on his face, the only giveaway to his true feelings being the enormous amounts of sweat soaking his shirt.

"I-I don't see a problem, is there something wrong?" he asked in a last ditch effort. If word got out to the public about his attempted scam, he'd be ruined. Hell, the entire bank would be ruined! Especially since that particular bank was known for its honesty and generosity. Tayuya smirked cockily, laughing lightly as she shook her head.

"Oh, you bet your fat ass there is. Did you _really_ think you could get away with this? A three percent interest rate on a CD savings account?" She could literally see his calm facade begin to crack, signaling the beginning of the end. "Imagine what would happen if I showed the owner this here contract?" That did it. the old man hung his head in defeat, clenching his short, stubby, manicured hands beneath the desk.

"What do you want?" he whispered, glaring up at the conniving girl. To think that he'd been punked by a couple of, well, punks. Naruto looked up at the girl in unbridled awe, amazed at her tenacity and intelligence. She'd bent the man to her will without even lifting a finger, something that he suddenly wished he could do. Maybe being a little smart wasn't such a bad thing. Sensing that she'd won, the redhead grinned and nonchalantly sat on the edge of his desk.

"Ah, finally seeing things my way, are you? First of all, get out a fresh contract." The man frowned, but nonetheless pulled out another contract. "We want a two and a half year CD for 1,200,000 yen." He scribbled the figures down in the appropriate slots. "Make the interest rate twenty percent compounded daily and --"

"Impossible!" he bellowed, slamming the pen down. "I'd get fired if I gave you such a high interest rate! Four percent!" Tayuya narrowed her eyes and scowled.

"Fine! Fifteen percent!"

"Six!"

"Twelve!"

"Eight!"

"Deal!" Tayuya yelled, fighting the urge to grin. The banker blinked a few times in confusion before his face turned into one of sheer horror. He'd just given her three percent more than the highest national average.

"N-no! I can't!" The redhead shrugged and hopped off of the desk.

"Okay; though, it'll be hard to find another high-class job like this with a criminal record, don't you think?" He was practically swimming in his own sweat now, the salty liquid pouring off of him in waves. His hand shook as he wrote the figures down in their appropriate slots, growing sicker and sicker with each stroke of the pen. After a few painstaking seconds, he slid the new contract over to the female extortionist. She read it over with a critical eye, and finding nothing wrong with it, she slid the paper over for Naruto to sign. The blond scribbled his signature onto the paper, and with a positively evil smile, she handed the document back to the man.

"Y-you'll burn in hell for this, you hear me?! You won't get away with this, you...you demon!" Immediately, a kunai was pressed firmly against his throat, silencing the overweight man before he could say another word. She glanced at her teammate cautiously, and noticing his downcast expression, pressed the weapon a little harder into his windpipe.

"Maybe, but I'm taking your fatass along with me." By now, 'Uncle Shin' was shivering heavily against his chair, closing his eyes in a silent prayer to Kami-sama. If he was allowed to live, he'd never scam anyone again. He'd become an honest man, and even donate some of his own money to charity. Tayuya removed the knife from his throat and placed it back into her weapons pouch.

"Pathetic. Come on, Naruto, let's get out of here. I think fatso here pissed his pants." The blond nodded stiffly, standing up and opening the door for her in an unusual display of chivalry. She glanced back at the man to give him one last warning glare before she fully stepped through the doorway. "Oh, and I'll expect this account to be active by tomorrow afternoon at the latest. If not, well, I still have this." She held up the first contract again, making sure that he understood exactly what would happen if he didn't abide by her demands. Jerking her head towards the lobby, the genin exited the office, leaving a pile of money and a profusely soaked man behind them.

As soon as they were out of the bank, Tayuya grabbed him by the arm to get his attention. He was still looking a little down despite his attempts to maintain a neutral expression.

"You know he was talking about me when he said 'demon', right?" she asked, studying his expression. Naruto averted his gaze, deeply annoying the already pissed off girl. She grabbed him by the chin and forced his eyes to look into hers. "Right?" When he nodded, she let go of his face and turned to walk into the market area of the town.

"Ne, Tayuya-chan..." The girl turned around and lifted a curious eyebrow.

"Thanks."

----------------------------------------

**AN: Thanks for the input! Sorry for the long (Only a month xD) break, but I think I'll be able to keep a normal update schedule now! Also, sorry about the fight scene. I'm working on em! Jutsus will be at the bottom of the page from now on. **

**Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu - Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique  
Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu - Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique  
Kanashibari no Jutsu - Body Freeze (Paralysis) Technique  
Doton: Doroku Gaeshi - Earth Release: Earth Shore Return  
Doton: Retsudotenshō - Earth Release: Split Earth Turn Around Palm**


	18. Chapter 18

**Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 18**

"It's too tight!"

"I know it is, it's supposed to be that way! It's okay as long as it fits, right?"

"But...it feels_ weird_."

"Fine -- if you don't like it, we can just stop now and go back to the hotel. Is that what you want?"

"Well...no..."

"Then shut the fuck up and do what I say!"

The crowd standing outside of the store stood appalled as they listened to the conversation going on inside of the changing booth. Along with the conversation, there were various groans and whimpers floating from the tiny room, both alarming and arousing the various nosy patrons at the same time.

At least two dozen people waited to see who would emerge, each of them practically stepping over the other to get a first glance at the scandalous young couple. Nothing like this _ever_ happened in Otafuku Gai, despite it being a popular rest stop for those going to and coming from Konoha. Finally, the deep red curtain was pushed aside by the people in the booth, and Tayuya followed by a stiff looking Naruto appeared.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" she asked, glancing at him from over her shoulder. The blond groaned and rubbed at his arm, wincing at the small 'pops' that emanated from his elbow joint.

"No, but you didn't have to be so rough! I'm new at this!" A loud gasp was heard from around them, and both genin looked up in surprise to see a large congregation of whispering civilians staring at them with wide, disbelieving eyes. Words like 'sex', 'lovers', and 'disgusting' reached their ears, and they simultaneously waved their hands disarmingly in front of themselves. "I-it wasn't like that!" he yelled.

"You perverted old fuckers! I was just helping him try on some clothes!" The group snorted skeptically, and a few of them even laughed at the excuse.

"Oh yeah?" one man asked, eyes narrowed. "Then what was all this about it being too tight?!" A couple of chorused 'yeahs' were heard from somewhere within the group. Tayuya grabbed the corner of Naruto's shirt so that everyone could see, and stretched the sleeveless black garment to its limit.

"We were talking about the shirt! What the hell did you _think_ we meant?" The crowd at least had the decency to blush, and they sheepishly dispersed almost as suddenly as they had come together. Shaking her head exasperatedly (and fighting down her own persistent blush), the redhead led her teammate back over to the clearance rack at the rear of the store. Naruto furrowed his brows as he followed her, struggling to comprehend the short exchange.

"Tayuya-chan, what did he mean about the too tight thing?" She shrugged lightly and began to look through the large amount of clothes hanging from the dusty bracket. There were all kinds of colors, sizes, and types of clothing haphazardly mixed in, and nothing was more expensive than 2000 yen -- ideal for their financial situation.

"Don't worry about it, just some geezers being stupid." She pulled a pair of black pants off of the rack, holding them up to Naruto's legs like a mother would do to their child. "Hm, a little long, but we can wrap the bottoms so that they don't get in the way. Eight pockets and a sewn in kunai holster. Not bad." Forcing the garment into his hand, she pushed him into the dressing room with herself close behind. "Try those on." The blond shifted uncomfortably for a few seconds, causing her to stare at him curiously. "What?"

"Uh, well, you're still in here..." Tayuya blinked a few times in confusion.

"And?"

"And, I'm trying on pants. _Pants_," he emphasized, motioning towards his lower body. Her cheeks flushed slightly as she realized what he was trying to say, and she quickly ducked back behind the certain.

"Oh, right." Frowning a bit, she realized that she'd been acting more and more absentminded lately; probably a side effect of being exposed to Naruto's idiocy for so long. Leaning against the hard wood of the small box, she waited impatiently for him to emerge, doing her best to ignore the meddling stares of passerbys. After what seemed like hours of waiting, she sighed loudly and banged the back of her head against the dressing room. "Are you done yet?"

"Hai, hai. Geez, it's only been two minutes." He pulled back the curtain of the room, stepping out in the loose black pants. They seemed to fit perfectly around the waist, being tight enough to not fall off during vigorous training but loose enough to give him his full range of motion. She nodded her approval and knelt down in front of him to check the price tag.

"This pair's only 1500 yen! We're definitely getting these!" Naruto frowned and pulled at the leg of the pants, apparently not as happy with the trousers as the redhead.

"That's great and all, but do you think they have these in orange too?" Tayuya glared dangerously at him, poking him roughly in the chest for added emphasis.

"No orange. I'm being nice enough to let you keep your jackets as sleepwear, so don't push your luck." In reality, she was keeping them more for herself than for Naruto. Despite their ugly appearance and color, they were pretty fucking comfortable; especially during the cooler months. "Alright, I think we have enough shit for now. Take those off and bring them back out when you're done." She walked over to the basket containing their things and mentally added all of the items up.

They'd spent practically five hours shopping altogether, bouncing around from store to store in search of cheap (but durable) clothing. Her feet were beginning to ache from the sheer amount of walking that they'd done; a sure sign that she needed to pick up a new pair of sandals sometime soon.

Along with another pair of long black pants for herself, she'd bought three pairs of the black spandex training shorts similar to the ones she wore during her time in the Sound village. They were comfortable, durable, and flexible all at the same time, making them ideal for both training and missions. She tried to get Naruto to put on a pair, but for some reason, he'd vehemently refused.

She'd also spent a good amount of her clothing budget on tops. The majority of the shirts she bought were inexpensive, and some of them contained a large amount of pockets and slots for weapons. The first shirt, costing exactly 1500 yen, was pure white and long sleeved. It was a bit more formfitting than she would have liked, being tapered at both the waist and below the bust, but the double layered collar was what really made the shirt special.

It was almost like a huge pocket, being able to hold a wide variety of items. The collar would be most useful if she were ever captured; it's virtually impossible to tell that there are items inside of the thick cloth from the outside, and she could easily use her teeth to pull out a knife or nail file if the need arose. All things considered, it was a truly remarkable piece of clothing.

The next top she found was more like a jacket. It was dark green in color, and the inside was insulated with a special kind of cotton that made it wearable in any weather. In addition to the usual two pockets at the bottom, there were pockets on both sides of her chest like a Konoha jounin vest. Even more slots lined the inside sleeves of the zip up hoody, and two large loops extended from the back -- most useful for holding a sword. Even though it was in the bargain bin, the coat still managed to cost 2100 yen.

Compared to the first two tops, the last three weren't anything special. Two of them were deep red and short-sleeved with a large yin-yang symbol sewn into the back. They'd come in at a measly 600 yen each, so she couldn't complain too much. The last and final top was, surprisingly, orange. There were no sleeves, pockets, or designs on the shirt, but its redeeming quality was the fact that it was reversible. If she turned it inside out, it'd become an inky black; almost like having two shirts in one. Even though it cost 800 yen, she felt it was well worth buying for its versatility.

"I'm done!" Naruto yelled, emerging from the tiny room. He tossed the pants into the basket containing their other things with a wide smile. Though he wasn't exactly thrilled with the clothing he'd been forced to buy, he was happy that he was able to go shopping with someone other than the Third Hokage.

Besides the pair of dark pants he'd just tried on, the girl had forced him to buy another pair of long dark blue pants. They were average at best, only consisting of five pockets overall, but their comfort was unrivaled. Rather than being made of just cotton, they were sewn together with various amounts of polyester and imitation silk, giving it both elasticity and softness at the same time. The best part was that they'd only cost 1200 yen.

After much begging and crying, he'd somehow managed to convince Tayuya to let him buy another pair of orange pants. He sold her on the large amount of pockets they had, coming in at around seven total, and the price at 1850 yen wasn't so bad either. The bottom of the pants were sewn in with elastic, allowing them to cling to the middle of his shin without any bandages or tape to hold them up. They weren't nearly as bright or attention grabbing as the pair he had on, and they were more light brown than anything -- but he'd take what he could get.

Tayuya nodded and led him up to the register. Along with the black pants, there were two shirts that they'd decided to buy from this cheap, backwater store. The first shirt was simple in design, being only a zip-up sleeveless sweater. It was made of cotton, but the way it was knitted together gave the fabric plenty of stretching and breathing room. Although he didn't like the way the black shirt clung to his body, even Naruto had to admit that it was comfortable.

The second thing he'd bought from the store was a deep blue jacket. It was similar to his teammate's jacket in that it was wearable in any weather, and it also had a large amount of pockets on both the inside and outside of the garment. The jacket was a little bigger than his current bright orange one, but according to Tayuya, he'd grow into it in a year or two. Both tops came up to a total of 4500 yen.

Overall, the amount of money they'd spent didn't put too much of a dent into their pockets. Naruto, for one, had plenty of money to play around with over the next three years. She'd made sure not to deposit everything into the bank account, saving over 200,000 yen for him to use in case he needed to buy anything else.

The genin quickly paid for their purchases and walked out of the door, bags hanging from every available limb and surface. Judging by the position of the sun and the amount of people outside, it was already nearing four o'clock in the afternoon. She shook her head in mild disbelief. It was almost hard to believe that five hours had passed since they'd left the bank.

Her mind unwittingly drifted as she thought about the many things she'd failed to accomplish that day and the things she wanted to do before they left this town. For one, she hadn't even had the chance to sink into the hotel's hot springs.

According to the locals (that she'd eavesdropped on), this particular town was quite famous for its underground rivers. They were supposedly rich in vitamins and nutrients that both soothed and enriched the skin, and she resolved to soak for at least an hour once they made it back to their lodgings. Noticing the faraway look on her face, Naruto cocked his head to the side and gave Tayuya a sidelong glance.

"What's wrong?" he asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. The redhead frowned lightly and shook her head again.

"Just thinking." His curiosity piqued, he inched a little closer to his teammate.

"About what?"

"Stuff." Naruto stuck out his lower lip, a little peeved that she was being so secretive.

"What kind of stuff?"

"Shut the fuck up kind of stuff." Her attention was now focused on him, eyes glaring darkly into his own. Luckily for him, they were at the front of door of their hotel, saving him from the chewing out that he would have undoubtedly received. Although she was a lot more mellow since the first time they'd met, she could still string together curses with the best of them.

"Oh, that kind of stuff! Ahaha...well, I guess I'll go to my room and uh, put my stuff away! Ja ne!" Without a second glance, he hurried inside of the building and up the stairs, leaving a mildy amused Tayuya in his wake. He was so easy to fluster.

She bounded the steps two at a time, intent on making it into the springs before the nighttime crowd arrived. Not many people wanted to take a bath at this time of day, and if she was lucky, she'd have the entire springs to herself. Unfortunately, her hopes were dashed when she opened the door to her hotel room.

Lying languidly on her bed was a bored Anko, flipping through some kind of fashion magazine while chewing on a dango stick. Her trench coat was tossed haphazardly on the foot of her bed, leaving her clad in only her fishnet bodysuit and tan skirt. She glanced up at the redhead with a mild glare, annoyance clearly written on her face.

"It's about time you got back," she muttered, tossing the magazine onto the bed and standing up. She lifted her hands into the air with a groan, popping a few of her bones back into place in the process. The woman then threw the trench coat on over her shoulders and walked towards the door. "Come on, we need to head over to the boys' room to discuss your training." The genin frowned deeply, already mourning the loss of her private bath time. She set her bags down near her bed, missing the curious smile she received from her sensei.

"What? Why now?" Anko shrugged and held the door open, not so subtly implying that she wanted Tayuya to follow.

"The sooner the better, right? Besides, it's not like you have any plans." She paused to study her pupil, looking her over with a mischievous grin. "Or do you?" Rather than satisfy the jounin with an answer, she huffed lightly and practically stalked through the door. Although she hated to admit it, the snake woman was right; the sooner they got it over with, the sooner she could head for her bath. She wasn't one to freak out over a bit of dirt and grime, but she wasn't one to neglect her hygiene either.

They made the short trek to the room on their left, finding the door already open and waiting for them. Jiraiya stood with his arms crossed over his chest, glaring daggers at a similarly frowning Naruto. The boy was sitting cross legged on his own bed, jacket draped over the edge of the somewhat large mattress. Apparently, something had happened between the males just before they'd come in. Noticing their presence, the sannin reluctantly tore his eyes away from the blond to address the kunoichi walking through the doorway.

"I brought the other chibi; let's get this over with so I can get some food." Tayuya glowered as she approached her teammate's bed, plopping down next to him on the fluffy furniture. If she weren't in such a rush, she'd have been more than happy to retaliate with a biting remark of her own. Seeing that everyone was waiting, Jiraiya pulled two small scrolls from a pocket in his vest. He too had plans for the night, and none of them involved dealing with three rude, loudmouthed shinobi. After Anko closed the door behind them, he turned towards the genin and began to speak.

"These scrolls contain, more or less, what you'll be doing over the next six months or so. Nothing is set in stone thus far, although there are certain things that absolutely must be done right away; one of which is the training of Naruto's other chakra." Out of the corner of her eye, Tayuya noticed that the blond unconsciously scratched at his stomach.

"The other thing we'll be working on for now is your taijutsu and chakra capacity," Anko said, staring pointedly at the kunoichi. "Since you two have vastly different skills and abilities, Jiraiya-sama and I have decided to train you separately."

"Train us separately? What the fuck's that mean?" the redhead asked, leaning forward a little in hostile curiosity.

"Just as it sounds. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, Naruto will be working with me on learning Orochimaru's unique style and tendancies. He'll basically be starting from the very beginning, learning the taijutsu and stealth techniques that Orochimaru teaches all of the shinobi he takes under his wing. This requires that you," she said, pointing at Tayuya, "Consult with me on a weekly basis so that we can make sure we have everything covered. I'm sure there's some things he taught you that he didn't teach me, and vice versa." The girl nodded, her amber eyes widening a bit with excitement.

"I get it! You're counting on the fact that Orochimaru will teach that Uchiha faggot the same way, so that when he and Naruto fight, our boy here will have a basic understanding as to Sasuke's movements and abilities!" The small grin on Anko's face told her that she was right, and she couldn't help but let loose a smirk of her own.

"Exactly. Good plan, no? Now, in the afternoons of those same days, Jiraiya-sama will take over to help blondie control his other chakra." Naruto stared confusedly at the woman, tilting his head to the side in his usual fashion.

"What? Why on the same day?" Jiraiya chose this moment to step in, sighing softly with a small amount of annoyance.

"Naruto, remember when I first tried to teach you to use your other chakra?" When the boy nodded, he continued. "What did I have you do?" Naruto assumed a thinking pose, scratching his chin with an upturned palm. Tayuya swore she saw a light bulb appear above his head when he finally remembered.

"You made me fight with a bunch of Kage Bunshin to get me really tired. What does that have to do with this, though?" The sannin sighed again. Explaining every little thing was going to drive him crazy after awhile. Deciding to put the man out of his misery, the redhead cut in to explain. Even she could see where he was going with it, and she knew very little about the situation.

"My God, you're an idiot! By exhausting your normal chakra and stamina, you're probably able to call upon your other chakra much easier. The snake bitch's training will tire you out enough so that you can get started on Ero-sennin's training right away." The blond's face lit up in understanding, and he grinned with his trademark foxy smile. Neither of them noticed the woman's darkening face at being called 'the snake bitch' and Jiraiya's glare at being called 'Ero-sennin.'

"Oh, I get it now! But, what am I going to do on the other days?" Anko grabbed one of the scrolls from her fellow instructor and unrolled it to show them what was inside, using a bit more force than necessary.

"This," she said, motioning to the text written on the paper, "is the list of exercises you'll do on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. There's only the basic things on there for now; pushups, situps, crunches, squats, sprints; you know, things to build your body up to handle the workload we'll be placing on you in the future. You'll do all of these things in the morning with either Jiraiya or I supervising. In the afternoons, you'll work on building up your chakra reserves and control." Naruto read over the scroll in her hand, scrunching up his eyes in disappointment.

"Leaf concentration? Tree climbing? Meditation?! All that stuff sounds boring!" A strong hand to the back of his head quickly shut him up, and he glared over at the culprit with narrowed eyes. The girl only shrugged dismissively, further angering him.

"It's for your own damn good. Look, chakra is molded by mixing both physical energy and spiritual energy right? Meditation is possibly the best way to increase your spiritual energy, and all of the exercises on that scroll increase your physical energy. Leaf concentration and chakra training also increase your chakra control, making you able to perform a wider variety of techniques and helping you gain more control over them." The blond stared at her with shock, his previous anger already forgotten. It was almost scary how much smarter she was than himself. He suddenly blinked and looked back up at his teachers, remembering something he's missed before.

"Wait, then what's Tayuya-chan gonna be doing while you're training me? And what about Sundays?" This time, Jiraiya stepped forward to explain.

"Basically, she's going to be doing the same thing as you; just on different days. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, she'll do the exact same exercises listed on your scroll. The only real difference between your training programs is that she'll be learning taijutsu from Anko on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings, and weapon training in the afternoons; we heard from that Nara boy that your flute is supposedly your only weapon, and as you found out, that can be a severe disadvantage." Tayuya grunted and looked away. "Sundays will be used as your day off, and you can do anything _except_ train on that day. However, each of you will be required to perform three hours of silent reading every week to help improve brainpower and concentration -- especially in Naruto." The redhead frowned, obviously displeased with this new development.

"Oi, what the hell do you mean I'll be learning taijutsu? I can already kick Naruto's ass without even trying! I think I'm pretty fuckin' well off considering!" Never mind the fact that she'd just scolded Naruto for almost the exact same thing. Both teacher's laughed at her confident statement, struggling to hang on to at least a shred of their composure.

"You...you actually think you're good?!" Anko choked out, holding her sides as if her intestines were trying to spill out of her stomach. After a few more seconds of laughter, she took a few deep breaths to calm herself. "I'll admit that you're not nearly as bad as your cuddle buddy here, but at the same time, any chuunin could kick your ass without even breaking a sweat. Besides, it's not like we're just teaching you some lame, overused, Academy level stance. Are you familiar with Taekwondo?" Tayuya's eyes narrowed slightly as she tried to scrounge up everything she knew about the style.

"Not really, but I know it's mostly known for its use of leg based attacks. Is that what you're going to be teaching me?!" The purple-haired jounin nodded, a maniacal grin still plastered on her face.

"Although I can't claim to be a master in the style, I studied it for a good five years. I can get you pretty far as I am now, but I'll have to hand you off to someone else once you learn everything that I know." The redhead frowned a bit, staring up at the woman curiously.

"But why Taekwondo? Why not Jujitsu? or Muy Thai?"

"The main reason is because it suits you best. In your spar with Naru-chan, I noticed that your punches barely had an effect on him. In order for you to fight on par with sturdy guys like him, you'll need much more strength than your fists will be able to provide. As you probably know, the leg has much greater reach and power, and you'll also be able to keep your hands free in order to use your other techniques. It's both an offensive and defensive martial arts style." Tayuya nodded, understanding what the woman was saying. It did sound like a good idea, and even she had to admit that her punches were pretty pathetic when compared to her former teammates.

"Fine, that's not such a bad plan. But, I didn't notice any mention of ninjutsu or genjutsu. What gives?" she asked, glaring at both adults. Jiraiya shrugged lightly at the question.

"Like we said in the beginning, this plan is only for the first six months or so. We'll get into that stuff after you build up a substantial amount of chakra reserves. Which reminds me; you're not allowed to use any genjutsu or ninjutsu without our permission, or unless you happen to encounter an enemy that you can't defeat with taijutsu alone." The genin visibly gawked at the man. They relied on those techniques as shinobi, and now they weren't allowed to use them?! Tayuya snarled loudly, unconsciously baring her newly gained fangs.

"What the fuck kind of sense does that make?! How the hell do we get better if we don't practice our goddamn techniques?!"

"Yeah! How am I supposed to do anything without my shadow clones!" Their instructors shook their heads disinterestedly, the two of them tossing the scrolls onto the bed.

"You'll figure it out; besides, it's not like you can't ever use them again. Half a year tops." With that, Anko waltzed out of the room. "Later, chibis! I'll be back a little late, but that doesn't mean you can just do whatever you want; the Hokage would have my head if you two made a baby during the trip." Her evil cackling could be heard all the way down the hall, much to the chagrin of the genin. Jiraiya too chuckled heartily at the insinuation, earning him embarrassed glares from his students.

"What?! You have to admit, it was pretty funny." When their expressions didn't change, he shrugged again and tossed what looked like a couple of huge rubber bands on the bed along with the scrolls. "You'll need those for your training, too. They're resistance bands, and they're pretty useful for targeting specific muscle groups when exercising. Give 'em a try when you get the chance. Oh, and don't stay up too late -- we're leaving at eight in the morning." He too exited the room, leaving the teens alone on the queen-sized bed. As soon as he left, Tayuya turned to Naruto with a fervently heated glare, remembering something that had been in the back of her mind all day. She hadn't much of a chance to bring it up since she was trying to manage his finances _and_ figure out what to buy, but now that they were alone, she intended to fully bestow her punishment on the oblivious blond.

"Naruto." Sensing her anger, he shuffled away from the redhead.

"W-what?"

"You didn't use the shit I taught you in our spar. Why?" Although her voice was cool and collected, her face was a different story. Her amber eyes seemed to be glowing with raw fury, and her mouth was pulled into a tight knot. Gulping loudly, Naruto smiled as best he could, remembering reading in a book somewhere that a smile often diffused troublesome situations.

"Well, I kind of...forgot." Noticing the subtle grinding of her teeth, he quickly elaborated on his statement. "I mean, because, we were in the heat of battle and I haven't really used the taijutsu in a real fight so..." Tayuya hung her head, sighing loudly as she did so. Listening to his explanation, she realized that she really couldn't blame him for forgetting. They hadn't trained in over a week because of everything that had happened, and she knew first hand how easy it was to revert to old habits when caught up in the moment.

"You're not lying to me, are you?" she asked, most of her earlier malice already drained from her system. Naruto quickly shook his head, eyes opening wider in fear.

"N-no! Of course not!" He couldn't tell her that he was worried about her, or that he purposefully neglected to use what she'd taught him. He couldn't tell her that he'd never forgive himself if he hurt her. The girl slowly nodded her head, seemingly satisfied with his answer.

"Good." Suddenly feeling very awkward alone with her teammate, Tayuya hopped up onto her feet to head back to her room, grabbing her scroll and elastic bands to take with her.

"Where're you going?" Naruto asked, unconsciously sticking out his lower lip. To be honest, he'd wanted to hang out with the girl for a little longer; this was the first time a person had willingly spent the entire day with him, and he wasn't quite ready for it to end yet. She glanced at him from over her shoulder, hiding her annoyed frown from view.

"To take a bath. Don't even _think_ about peeking, or I'll slice your underdeveloped tiny balls off at the fucking seam." Satisfied that she'd gotten her point across (She noticed that he'd turned a shade paler), she slipped out of the doorway to take her well deserved dip in the hot springs.

As soon as she reached her own room, the girl quickly undressed and tossed her clothes onto her bed, hurriedly changing into the white yukata she'd slept in the night before. Oddly enough, it still smelled like Naruto. Her feet were a blur as she once again hopped down the steps of the large building, and she pushed open the tall wooden gate of the women's hot springs.

To her relief, there were only two other people currently relaxing in the small enclosure. One of the women looked to be around forty or fifty judging by the small wrinkles around her eyes and mouth. Her long black hair shimmered in the dim sunlight, and glancing at her own light red hair, Tayuya almost wished that hers could do the same.

The second woman looked to be at least sixty or so if her graying hairs were any indication. Most of her shiny light brown hair was neatly fixed up into a bun, but a few strands still managed to escape and frame her face. Her eyes were closed as she leaned back against the rock, and it wasn't until the genin had entered the water that the women turned to look at her.

"Oh, look, mother! We've got a young one this time!" the black haired woman exclaimed, eyes wide and shining with excitement. Tayuya was immediately put off by the exuberant reaction, and her body slipped into the familiar tightness that was only associated with shinobi. Now that she looked a little closer, the woman seemed somewhat familiar. Not wanting to seem overly rude, she nodded in the womens' direction. To her surprise, the younger woman waded over to sit right next to her, only a few inches away from invading her personal space. She studied the redhead curiously through the steam, eyes opening wide after a couple of quiet seconds. "Mother! See? This is the girl I was talking about earlier!"

Tayuya blinked in confusion. Although she certainly looked familiar, she was positive that she hadn't met the woman; her memory wasn't _that_ bad.

"Uh, do I know you?" she asked, sounding a little more blunt than she meant to.

"Ah, how rude of me! My name is Tsukino, but you can just call me Tsuki if you'd like. I work the early morning and night shifts at this hotel. My mother," she explained, nodding towards the older woman still relaxing against the rock, "Owns this place." The redhead nodded slowly, suddenly remembering exactly where she'd seen her. It was the same lady who'd given her that annoyingly knowing smile just that morning.

"Oh, yeah, you." She subtley edged away from the woman, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable in her presence. She never did like the nosy or gossiping type of females (She killed them first if she could), and judging by the mischievious smirk that was spreading across the hotel clerk's face, she was intending to poke her nose where it didn't belong.

"So, who's that boy you were dragging up the stairs this morning? You looked mighty eager to get back up to your room. Is that your boyfriend? Or are you two related?" Before she could answer, a loud sigh was heard from the hotel's owner.

"Tsukino, stop badgering the poor girl. She's paying pretty decent money to relax in these springs." Tsukino pouted but complied, crossing her arms under her chest like a five year old. The genin refused to acknowledge the fact that it made the woman's chest seem bigger than it already was.

"You never let me have any fun! Here I was just trying to help a customer out, and you have to butt into my business!" Tayuya almost laughed at the irony. "I was just going to share a few beauty tips with her, I swear!" She turned her attention back to the kunoichi, almost as if she'd forgotten her mother's warning. "Anyway, if you want to keep a guy like him interested, you're going to have to put more effort into your appearance." Feeling slightly insulted, the genin frowned deeply and narrowed her eyes at the clerk.

"What the fuck's that supposed to mean?" she asked, her body unconsciously tensing up. Sensing the girl's anger, Tsukino raised a placating hand to calm the girl down.

"I'm not trying to be cruel, but quite frankly, your hair sucks. It's limp, disorderly, and more likely than not, full of knots." The woman giggled slightly at the small pun. "Hold on, I'll be right back!" With a speed belying her age, she hopped out of the hot springs and disappeared into the tiny wooden changing room near the gated entrance. The hotel owner turned her head to look at Tayuya with a mildly amused and apologetic smile.

"Run while you still can!" she whispered, loud enough for her daughter to hear it. Tsukino frowned at her mother as she emerged from the small building, and with a towel (thankfully) wrapped around her body, she sat on the rock next to Tayuya.

"Haha, very funny, mother. I'll have you know that I am an excellent hairstylist! How do you think I got my hair this shiny?!" The woman exclaimed, holding up what looked like a bath set. Tayuya snorted and sunk deeper into the soothing hot water of the springs.

"Don't give a shit," she mumbled, closing her eyes. The feel of someone touching her hair caused her to freeze for a moment, and she jumped forward to get out of the woman's reach. Her eyes were wild with rage, and she wrapped her arms around her naked body to protect what little modesty she had. "What the fuck're you doing?!" the girl screeched, causing both women to jump in suprise. It was a much stronger reaction than either of them had expected, and looking at the girls fearful and angry face tugged at something in their hearts.

"Relax, dear, I'm just going to wash your hair for you. Think of it as a complimentary service that we offer here." Tayuya calmed down a bit at her words, releasing some of the heavy tension that was both common and necessary for a shinobi. While she made a point to never trust strangers, there something oddly comforting about the older women. Plus, even she had to admit that her hair was a little more out of control than usual.

It was obvious enough at first glance to see that they weren't shinobi, and if they were using genjutsu to hide their appearance, she'd have known before she even entered the springs. She glared at both women one more time before slowly wading over to her previous resting spot and leaning back against the smooth stones of the spring. Although her body remained on edge in case of an unexpected attack, she was able to relax her mind enough to let someone else touch her.

Pleased, Tsukino ran the comb through Tayuya's hair, every now and then stopping to force out a knot or mess of tangles. She couldn't see anything since the woman was behind her, but it certainly felt like she knew what she was doing. Her hands moved through the long, thick hair with practiced ease, and in a matter of minutes, she had the hair completely straight and smooth.

Next, the hotel clerk dumped a generous amount of liquid onto the girl's hair. Whatever it was smelled sweet, and taking a deeper whiff of the substance, Tayuya was able to pinpoint a mix of strawberry, honey, and kiwi. Not a bad smell, although a little girly for her tastes. The woman lathered her hair up using the water from the springs, working to get out all of the dirt and grime that had built up since her last shower in Naruto's apartment -- which, judging by the dirty suds that fell onto the water in front of her -- was quite a lot. Tsukino dunked the girl's head under the water to rinse, and immediately set to work combing the hair once again.

"Why are you doing this?" Tayuya questioned, asking what had been burning in her mind ever since the woman started. She wasn't used to random acts of kindness; but then again, she'd never exactly lived in the best of places. Tsukino continued to comb through her hair, sighing slightly in response.

"No real reason; a mixture of boredom and curiosity mostly." The kunoichi lifted an eyebrow. Talking helped to ease her paranoia, so she didn't mind exchanging a few words with the older civilian.

"Curiosity?" Although she couldn't see it, the hotel clerk grinned widely and nodded.

"To see how that boy of yours will react. If he doesn't notice at all, he's not worth your time. Okay?" The redhead almost choked on her own saliva. Naruto? Hers? The thought itself was hilarious! Sure, he made a nice friend and all, but as a lover? Yeah, not fuckin' likely.

The hotel clerk finished combing Tayuya's hair and stood up, stretching a little to get some circulation in her tired hands and forearms. "Just let it air dry when you're ready to get out, and it'll be nearly as shiny as mine. You can keep the shampoo and conditioner if you'd like; it's all yours!" The woman laughed loudly, walking towards the exit. "Unfortunately, my shift starts in two hours. Tell me how it goes!" The genin watched amazed as the clerk simply waltzed out of the bath area and into the hotel, wearing nothing but a skimpy white towel over her mildly plump frame. She was gone before she even had the chance to utter a word of thanks; although she'd probably wouldn't have anyway.

Tayuya absentmindedly ran a hand through her freshly washed hair, testing to see how good of a job the woman had done. It certainly felt better than it had only fifteen minutes before, and it almost felt like fine silk as it slid through her fingers. Despite herself, she couldn't wait to see how it turned out.

"I'm very sorry about my daughter," the older woman sighed, opening her eyes to look at the girl. "Her husband wasn't exactly the kindest man in the world, and I'm being generous. She just doesn't want others' relationships to fall apart like hers did, feeling as if it is her duty to protect the integrity and innocence of romance. Please understand her reasoning." The redhead blinked, but nodded.

Although it was a little cruel, she couldn't give less of a fuck about what had happened to her marriage in the past. It just wasn't in her nature to care about people she didn't know; though she was a little grateful for the free shampoo job, even if it had been somewhat against her will. Besides, it wasn't as if Tsukino's intentions applied to her. Naruto would forever be a friend to her, and no amount of training or time spent together would change that. She could never bring him into her world. His future was too bright for her to fuck up with her issues.

She soaked in the bath for another hour before deciding to head back to her room. Her stomach was beginning to eat itself from the inside out, a feeling she'd become familiar with over the last week or so. Drying off as quickly as she could, Tayuya slipped the yukata back on over her naked body and bounded the stairs for the third time that day.


	19. Chapter 19

**Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 19**

Both Anko and Tayuya simultaneously yawned as they walked along the path leading to their next destination. Neither one had managed to get a full night's rest; Anko because she'd spent too much time drinking sweat bean tea and gorging on dango, and Tayuya because her roommate had been out all night drinking sweet bean tea and gorging on dango.

The redhead groaned tiredly, rubbing at her reddened eyes with her fingers. She hadn't been able to fall asleep alone in the room the night before, something that irked her to no end. She'd thought about dragging Naruto into the small room with her, but decided against it at the last minute. It was already well after midnight by the time she had come up with the idea, and her teammate was undoubtedly asleep by then. Not wanting to wake him up (or start any more frivolous rumors), she instead chose to wait until the perverted jounin returned from Kami knows where before she went to sleep. Unfortunately for both of them, Anko hadn't come back until four o'clock that morning.

"Tayuya-chan, are you okay? You look tired," a concerned Naruto murmured, glancing over at her from his postition to her left. She almost punched him for asking such a stupid question, managing to restrain herself by tightly clenching her fist. It was hard to believe that he couldn't see the subtle dark shadows underneath her amber eyes, nor the tinge of red that permeated the edges of her eyeballs. Sighing loudly, she glared at the blond as best she could in her current condition.

"No, I'm just dragging my feet and yawning every five minutes because I think it's fun. What the fuck do you _think_?" she spat, feeling her anger begin to rise. He had the unique gift of pissing her off at the most inopportune times. Naruto winced lightly at her tone, subtly edging away from the obviously irate girl. She'd been angry at him since that morning for reasons he couldn't even hope to understand.

"Uh, that you're not okay?" Too tired to argue any further, she growled in the back of her throat and turned her head to stare daggers into the back of Jiraiya's head.

"Hey, old man! When're we getting to that bastard friend of yours' place? We've been walking for almost ten hours!" The sannin looked back at her with a frown.

"One, I'm not old! I happen to be in my prime, thank you very much!" All three of his traveling partners coughed lightly, something that didn't go unnoticed by the Toad sage. "And two, you'll know when we get there. Trust me, you can't miss it." Tayuya mumbled darkly under her breath, increasing the amount of hate she sent to the back of his head.

_'Damn geezers and their inability to answer a simple fucking question,' _she thought, opening her mouth to speak again. "What the fuck kind of answer is that?! Why can't you just -- oh." At that moment, she tasted the unmistakable sweetness of chakra used in genjutsu. On second thought, it wasn't so much a taste as it was a deep rooted feeling only noticeable by either high level shinobi or genjutsu users.

"Did you feel it?" the man asked, continuing to walk along the path. Both Anko and Naruto lifted their eyebrows in curiosity.

"Feel what?" Anko questioned, looking over at Jiraiya. Ignoring the woman, Tayuya nodded and began to mold a small amount of chakra to dispel the illusion.

"Yeah. We just stepped into a high-level genjutsu; one that even I can't get out of!" A mischievous look suddenly appeared on Jiraiya's face.

"Ah, but we don't want to get out of it." The blond blinked a bit in surprise.

"Huh? Why not?"

"Watch." Forming a few handseals, he slammed his hand into the nearest tree. Immediately, a large wooden door appeared in front of them, shocking three of the four shinobi.

"W-what the hell is that?!" the redhead stuttered, eyes widening as she studied the intricately carved lines of the oak door. The thing had literally come out of nowhere, and she wasn't so sure if she trusted the sannin enough to follow him into it.

"A genjutsu within a genjutsu within a genjutsu, basically. The first genjutsu makes most people think that there's nothing here except for trees, rocks, and grass. If they should somehow get out of that illusion, they'll be thrown into a second genjutsu. It reveals a hidden path that leads to, well, nowhere. There's a 99.9 percent chance that they'll follow the path without even checking for a third illusion, so it's very effective; or so he says." He pulled the heavy door open and stepped inside the dark pathway, motioning for the others to follow him. Both Anko and Naruto walked in without a second thought, but Tayuya lagged a few feet behind them as they entered. Immediately after, the door disappeared, freaking the already on-edge girl out.

The group walked along the pitch black path, relying on the small bit of light at the end of the tunnel to lead them to their destination. To her obvious relief, they reached the opening in a matter of seconds. As they exited the dark tunnel, their eyes widened in surprise when the cave opened up into a huge, lush field of wheat. A lone brick house was seen in the distance, flanked by a windmill and what looked like a barn. Directly behind that was a thick forest similar to the one they'd just come out of.

"Where is this place? I've passed through this area dozens of times over the years, but I've never seen anything like this!" Anko exclaimed. Jiraiya shrugged lightly, continuing to move towards the buildings.

"I can't say; he won't even tell _me_ the exact location, and I'm practically his only friend!" Still following, Tayuya narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the older man.

"Who the hell is this guy, anyway? How do you know him? Why are we here?"

"Whoa, slow down! All of your questions will be answered in time, don't worry. However, I_can_ tell you why we're here; we're here because this is where you two will be training for the next fifteen or so weeks." The redhead pondered this for a few seconds before opening her mouth to ask another series of questions. Unfortunately for her, they'd already reached the front door of the house. With a subtle signal for them to stand back, Jiraiya lightly rapped on the huge oak door (which looked eerily similar to the first one).

A small amount of scuffling was heard from inside the home, and a few seconds later, the door creaked open to reveal a tall, stoutly built, gray haired old man. His face was impassively grim, and a small goatee framed his mouth and chin. He wore what looked like a traditional chinese hanfu, the colors of the garb a pale grey and black. To the surprise of the genin, his face suddenly stretched into a wide smile, one close to the grin commonly seen on Naruto's face.

"Jiraiya! Long time no see!" the man bellowed, stretching his hand out towards the sannin. Jiraiya put on a smile of his own and took the offered appendage.

"Great to see you too, Juro! How're things going on the farm?" Juro scratched the back of his head, his grin noticeably faltering a bit.

"Actually, not so well. The wheat harvesting season is ending soon, and I still have quite a bit to get cut and bound within the next few months." Expecting this answer, Jiraiya's smile widened a bit more.

"Well then, you're in luck! I've brought you some help!" He pulled his fellow travelers from behind the door, arranging them in front of himself. "In exchange for a few month's room and board, these three will help you get back up to speed in no time!"

"Huh?"

"What?!"

"Oi!"

All three of the aforementioned shinobi stared (and glared) at the sannin, shocked at his words. Immediately understanding the situation, Juro began to laugh.

"you haven't changed a bit, Jiraiya! That's just like you to use your subordinates to gain a free meal. But, if they'll agree to it, I don't have a problem with the arrangement; I need all the help I can get, after all." Still not entirely convinced, Tayuya crossed her arms and glared up at the large man.

"You got beds for us?" she asked, looking straight into his eyes. The man laughed again, genuinely amused by her confident and abrasive attitude. The fact that she was just a little more than half his height added to the humor.

"Afraid not; while I do have four rooms, only two of them contain beds. One of them is mine, and I'm assuming that Jiraiya will be claiming the other. However, if my memory serves me correctly, I do have a few old futons in the linen closet. Good enough for you, dearie?" The redhead frowned at being called dearie, but nodded to answer his question.

"Yeah, it'll work." She grabbed the unusually quiet Naruto by his arm and dragged him into the man's house. "I'm going to bed." Juro, for the third time since they'd arrived, broke out into loud gales of laughter.

"Is she always that pushy?" he questioned as soon as he'd gotten a handle on his chuckles. When both adults nodded and sighed, he smiled again, exposing every one of his clear white teeth.

"Looks like things are gonna get interesting around here!"

-------------

"Hey, Tayuya-chan, where're we going?!" Naruto asked as he was dragged up the stairs. The girl had practically run through the large house, not giving him the chance to observe the huge amounts of weapons on the wall nor the gigantic map hanging over the fireplace. She grunted with effort as she pushed open the first door they'd come to. They were much heavier than they looked.

"We're going to bed." Realizing the implications of her words, she quickly corrected herself. "I mean, you're going to bed with me. No, wait, I mean--!"

"I know what you meant," the blond said, taking notice of her tired and embarrassed expression. He was, in a way, glad that she trusted him enough to sleep in the same room with him; even though he knew she'd never say it out loud. Still, he'd rather not have to go to bed when she decided that she was tired. Naruto flipped on the light switch mounted directly inside the doorway and glanced into the bedroom. "It looks like this is one of the rooms we can sleep in since I don't see a bed anywhere." She slowly nodded her head, glad that he'd changed the subject before she was reduced to a sputtering mess.

"Yeah, all we have to do now is find the goddamn linen closet." The teens retreated from the room and stepped back into the hallway. There were at least seven doors lining the smooth wood of the corridor, and each one looked exactly the same. A couple of windows also lined the narrow walkway, and glancing outside, she was able to determine that it was at least around seven or eight o'clock. Sighing, she motioned for him to check the doors on the left side.

Naruto watched her as she moved to open the second door, noticing her sluggish and tired movements. He'd been secretly watching over her as they traveled, worrying over her every time she sighed or closed her eyes for too long -- although he knew she wasn't the type to let him help her unless it was absolutely necessary. As she passed by the window to head over to the third door, Naruto felt his breath hitch in the back of his throat.

Amazingly, he hadn't noticed before how beautiful her hair was. The bright red tresses, lit up by the setting sun outside, gave her the appearance of some kind of angelic deity. Her long flowing hair, almost reaching the subtle curve between her back and bottom, seemed to glow with ethereal energy. It hadn't been like this before; at least, he didn't think so. Strangely, he was reminded of Sakura-chan before she'd been forced to cut her long pink strands. If he wasn't so sure that she would kill him, he would've asked her about it. Roughly shaking his head, he threw open the next door to begin looking for the closet.

They quickly worked their way down the hall, opening and closing each door in search of the old man's futons. In retrospect, it might've been a better idea to ask the old man himself where he kept his sheets and pillows. Finally, after a few minutes of searching, Tayuya grinned and pulled one of the foldable mattresses from the open door.

"Success! Here, hold this," she told Naruto, placing the deceivingly light mattress into his arms. She then tossed a couple of pillows and sheets onto the pile before emerging with a futon of her own, sticking the bed comfortably under one arm.

"Why do I have to carry everything?" he asked, sticking out his lower lip. The girl shrugged and walked back down the hall, issuing the silent command for him to follow.

"Because you're my packmule." She reached back and pat him gently on the head, almost smirking at the pout that appeared on his normally grinning face. It was fun to annoy the boy; much more fun than it had been to annoy Sakon or Jirobou. Those bastards never gave her the kind of reactions she was looking for, often ignoring or overlooking the things she did to get on their nerves. Messing with Kidomaru was out of the question; he'd give her three times as much hell as she'd given him, and it'd be weeks before he finally got bored of messing with her.

As soon as they walked back into their own room, Tayuya tossed her futon in the middle of the floor and plopped down on top of it. She'd thought about changing into some night clothes before going to sleep, but that plan was immediately forgotten when she had made the mistake of lying down. It's not like it mattered much -- after all, the white shirt and black spandex shorts were pretty comfortable in any situation. Sighing contentedly, she lifted an arm into the air.

"Naruto, pillow." To her surprise, the blond complied without a fuss. She was at least expecting him to grumble something under his breath considering how openly she was ordering him around. "Uh, thanks." With the large, fluffy pillow resting delicately under her head, Tayuya was finding it increasingly difficult to stay awake. She both felt and heard Naruto plop down beside her after turning the light switch off, leaving at least a person's width of space between them. A few seconds later, she felt him gently spread one of the sheets over her uncovered body.

"Night, Tayuya-chan!" he exclaimed, pulling the remaining sheet over himself. Still too shocked to speak, she grunted out what she hoped was an appropriate answer. It never ceased to amaze her how sweet the idiot could be when he wanted to; the funny thing was, he probably didn't even know it.

-------------------------------

Anko peeked into the room, relying on her shinobi trained eyes to make out the figures of Naruto and Tayuya on the floor. Satisfied that they were fast asleep, she carefully backed out of the room and closed the door, making sure to keep as quiet as possible. She waited a minute or so to see if anyone would wake up, and when neither of the genin did, the woman quickly and quietly walked down the stairs.

"So? Are they asleep?" Jiraiya asked, taking another sip from his cup of tea. The kunoichi nodded and retook her seat to his left, discreetly inspecting her own cup of tea to make sure it hadn't been tampered with. Old habits died hard.

"Yeah, I believe so. It's hard to tell with ninja, though; even genin like them." The sannin dipped his head slightly in understanding, grabbing one of the fresh rolls off the large plate in the center of the table. He, Anko, and Juro were currently relaxing around a small wooden dinner table, drinking green tea and nibbling on Juro's homemade bread. The room was dimly lit, allowing the adults to chat and relax in relative privacy.

There weren't many things in the living room and kitchen area; besides the table they were currently sitting at, the large area contained a refridgerator, oven, stove, sink, couch, and chair. A fireplace was built into the far wall of the brick building, and a huge map was hung above that. A couple of throw rugs were centered perfectly in front of the couch and chair, giving the home a rather cozy feel despite it's eerie darkness.

"That's good. Now we can get down to business." Juro finished the last of his tea and placed his cup neatly in the middle of the table. "Jiraiya, why did you bring them here?" The Toad sage sighed, brushing off the curious glance he got from Anko.

"I knew you'd ask sooner or later. The boy, Naruto, is my student." The gray-haired man lifted an eyebrow in mild surprise. He was wondering who the orange and black clad young blond was.

"I thought you said you'd never take another pupil after the Fourth?" he asked, frowning a bit at Jiraiya.

"Well, to be honest, I didn't have much of a choice in the matter." The farmer subtly urged for him to go on. "The thing is, that Naruto is the container for the Kyuubi no yoko." To Anko's amazement, Juro only blinked at this revelation. Most people who learned of Naruto's secret would at least have the common sense to look a little shocked.

"I see. That still doesn't explain why you brought him _here_." The woman observed their interaction with interest. The old farmer who had seemed so calm and happy before now looked more like a cold and merciless killer, biding his time before he would claim his next victim. She blinked at this strange train of thought. Where the hell had that analogy come from? Probably from years of training with Orochimaru, no doubt.

"I needed a place where we couldn't be detected. I plan to teach Naruto how to use the power of the nine tails." That got a reaction out of him. Juro's eyes narrowed dangerously, glaring at the sannin from across the table. Anko could actually hear his teeth grinding together, and she wondered exactly what it was that angered the man so much.

"Are you aware of the risks involved with attempting something like that? Is _he_ aware?" Jiraiya nodded slowly, folding his arms over his chest as he answered.

"Of course. Worst case scenario, the Kyuubi escapes and we all die." Before the large man could voice his objections, he quickly continued. "However, if I don't teach him how to use the demon's power, there's a greater chance that the power will be stolen from Naruto and used against the rest of the world. Besides, you know first hand how skilled Arashi was with seals. He _did_ help you build the security system for this place." Mirroring Jiraiya's pose, Juro let out a loud grunt.

"Fine, I get it." He glanced at Anko before turning his eyes on the sannin once again. "What about the other two?"

"The girl, Tayuya, and I are here on the current Hokage's orders. We're here to help Naruto train for his inevitable showdown with Orochimaru's successor," Anko explained, happy to be of some use to the conversation. The wheat farmer stared a little closer at the fishnet-clad woman, squinting his eyes in thought.

"Huh, is that so. I _knew_ you looked familiar! You're that cheeky brat who always hung around Orochimaru back in the day! I was wondering how you'd turn out! Let me guess, that other girl served under him too?" Although she was a little miffed at being called a 'cheeky brat', the woman nodded her head.

"Yeah, she was one of his elite bodyguards -- at least until he attempted to have her assassinated."A sudden thought occurred to her, and she snapped her head up to stare at the old man. "Hey, how do you know about me and Orochimaru?!" Juro let loose a small chuckle, shaking his head in amusement. For her part, Anko was once again amazed at how quickly his personality had changed back into the old, cheerful farmer they'd met when they first arrived.

"Ha! You're a regular bunch of oddballs, aren't ya? Well, for the next few months, my place is yours! I was getting bored all by my lonesome anyway." Although upset that he'd so casually brushed off her question, she was far too tired to push the matter. Noticing the stifled yawn from the jounin, he waved his hand towards the staircase. "You can go ahead and go to sleep if you'd like. Since the kids took the first empty room, your room will be two doors down from theirs. The linen closet should be right next to that, and the bathroom is directly across from the closet." She nodded gratefully and stood up, stifling another yawn as she ascended the staircase. Once he was sure the woman was gone, Juro looked back at Jiraiya with a curious frown.

"What?" the white-haired man asked, pouring himself another cup of tea. He wasn't nearly as tired as everyone else, as he'd been sure to get his required eight hours of sleep the night before.

"That boy...is he...?" Jiraiya nodded his head, immediately understanding what the farmer was asking.

"Yep. I guess it's pretty obvious given the circumstances, huh?"

"I suppose so. I'm just surprised I didn't see it when you first arrived!" The sannin shrugged his shoulders, taking a sip of his tea.

"You'd be amazed at how many people don't recognize it. Or rather, how many people don't want to." Juro sighed loudly, shaking his head for what had to be the fifth time that day. Deciding to get off of that depressing subject, he put on a small, mischievous smile and looked over at his long time friend.

"So, about your next book..."

------------------

Tayuya yawned widely as she felt her way to the bathroom, using the wall as a temporary crutch. It was hard to see in the huge, dark house, and if she had to guess, she'd say it was around five or six in the morning -- meaning she'd gotten at the _least_ ten hours of uninterrupted rest.

She hurried towards the toilet as fast she could in the dim light, fighting to hold back nature's calling. Her bladder literally felt like it was going to burst at the seams, and cringing at the mental image that appeared in her mind, she picked up her pace a little more. She was more than happy that she'd taken the chance to locate the bathroom before she went bed, as the ridiculous amount of doors in the small hallway all pretty much looked and felt the same. Turning the doorknob of what she believed to be the restroom, the redhead quickly opened and closed the wooden door behind her.

It took another couple of seconds to locate the light switch (she should've looked for that earlier, too), and she wasted no time in pulling down her shorts and sitting on the simply built toilet. A wave of relief flowed throughout her body, a sigh escaping her as released all of the liquid she'd accumulated the day before. After nearly an entire minute of urinating, she pulled the skin-tight shorts back up her legs and stretched. Sure, it wasn't the most graceful way to start the morning, but she wasn't a graceful type of girl anyway.

Flushing the toilet, she took her first surveying look around the bathroom. It wasn't as big as she'd thought it would be; a maximum of ten people could probably fit in the room if she didn't count the bathtub. It was certainly bigger than Naruto's bathroom, but then again, that wasn't saying too much. The room consisted of a porcelain white toilet, built in bathtub, and a sink. A large mirror was implanted into the wall overlooking the sink, and four light bulbs were installed above that.

Dark green swirls were painted on the white walls of the bathroom, perfectly matching the green shower curtain hanging from the shower rod. All in all, it wasn't a bad place. Just as she was about to wash her hands and try to catch another hour or so of sleep, the door shot open, alarming the stupified the redhead.

Anko burst into the room, her body a blur as she made a beeline for the toilet. Without giving the girl a second glance, the jounin pulled down her sweatpants and sat down on the toilet, looking very much like Tayuya had only a minute before.

"W-what the fuck are you doing?!" the redhead exclaimed after finding her voice again. "Didn't you see that the goddamn door was closed?!" Nevermind the fact that she'd forgotten to lock it. Anko rolled her eyes up to look at the angry genin, a sleepy expression marring her normally mischievous face.

"I'm pissing, peeing, urinating, taking a leak, opening up the --"

"Damnit, I know _that_, but why are you doing that shit _now?!_" Tayuya shrieked.

"I had to go. What, are you embarrassed?" the jounin asked, that infuriatingly mischievous smile appearing once again. Knowing what would happen if she admitted the truth, the girl frowned and turned back to the sink to wash her hands.

"N-no! Hell no! Why the fuck would I be embarrassed about some stupid shit like that?!" Anko shrugged and stood up, she too stretching her arms out at her sides.

"I'd be surprised if you were. I'm sure you've been around another female before." When Tayuya didn't answer, the woman glanced over at her. "Right?" Snorting, Tayuya grabbed the bar of soap resting near the sink and lathered up her hands.

"Who'd want to hang around a bunch of gossiping cunts? They're all good for nothing whores if you ask me. Guys tell it like it is." The jounin pushed her pupil out of the way, earning a small growl from the girl beside her. She too began to wash her hands, rubbing her hands over Tayuya's to get some soap for herself. "Hey!" she yelled, her scowl deepening. To her chagrin, the snake bitch only rolled her eyes in exasperation, letting loose a small sigh for added emphasis.

"Geez, you're such a guy." Although she'd usually be honored at being compared so closely to a male, something about the way Anko had said it made her angry. She narrowed her eyes and slammed the soap back into its place.

"How the _fuck_ am I like a guy?!" A choked laugh escaped from the woman to her right, further angering the girl.

"How are you _not?_ You walk, talk, look, and act like a boy! There isn't a shred of femininity in you apart from your boobs and pussy." She put on a thoughtful expression, eying Tayuya with a slightly devilish smile. "If you don't change something soon, Naru-chan will lose interest and go off with _real_ girls. Like that Yamanaka Ino chick, for example. They'd go great together!" The redhead flinched lightly, her fingers clenching against her will while Anko looked on with interest. To be honest, it was more of a reaction than she'd expected from the genin, as the young mindwalker just happened to be the first 'girly' girl that came to mind. After a few painfully silent seconds, Tayuya turned on her heel and walked out of the bathroom.

"Who gives a fuck. Naruto can do whatever the hell he wants; it's none of my business." She stalked back to her room, completely ignoring the boisterous laughter coming from behind her. She was much more annoyed with herself than she was with Anko; she'd allowed herself to show weakness, even if it was only for two or three seconds. Anyone who listened to their conversation would assume that she actually cared about how the blond thought of her -- something that was completely and utterly untrue.

"By the way, don't bother trying to sleep! You have to be up in half an hour!" Anko called from the bathroom. Great, just when she'd been about to try to catch another hour or two. Sighing loudly, she fell face first onto her futon, burying her nose into the cool cotton of her pillow.

-----------------------

"No, no, NO!" Anko screamed, running a frustrated hand through her long purple hair. She rested her hands on her light grey sweatpants, shaking her head in disappointment at her pupil. He just wasn't getting it! 'Naruto' and 'stealth' went together as well as water and oil; and everyone knows how well that combination works out. The woman jogged over to Naruto to yell at him some more, an angry frown permeating across her face. "How many times do I have to tell you?! You have to be aware of every single thing around you, and adjust your movements according to those elements. Is it really that hard?!"

"Hell yeah it is! How do you expect me to see a bunch of twigs and rocks while looking straight ahead at the same time?!" Anko narrowed her eyes.

"You're not supposed to _see_ it, stupid, you're supposed to_ feel_ it!"

"Feel rocks and twigs? Is that even _possible_?!"

"Of course it's possible! It's one of the most basic skills in the Sound village!"

"How do you know?!"

"Because I do!"

"Ha! You don't know anything!"

"Just shut up and do what I say, brat!"

"Don't call me a brat, you hag!"

"Shrimp!"

"Witch!"

"Runt!"

Tayuya stopped in the middle of her ninety-ninth push up to sigh. They'd only been training here for a month, yet somehow, the two shinobi just couldn't stop arguing with each other. Day in and day out the two would degenerate to name calling, and they'd even resorted to blows on the third day of training. Needless to say, Naruto got his ass kicked and Anko was very smug about it for the rest of the week.

"They never stop, do they?" Jiraiya asked from his perch in the tree behind her. On the mornings when Anko was training Naruto, the Toad Sage would often watch over the girl to make sure that her form and posture was correct. He hadn't had to lecture her much after the first day, and usually just wrote in his notepad while keeping an eye on her at the same time. Of course, she never wore her spandex training shorts on those days; apparently, beating the man senseless did little to curb his perverted appetite.

Still, although he was a perverted old man, she had to admit the guy was pretty alright in his own sick little way. He _did_ know what he was talking about, and he usually saved his leering comments for when she was done exercising. Unwillingly, her initial impression of Jiraiya had risen a bit in their short time together.

"Nope. Even when we're a quarter fuckin' mile away we can hear them." The man chuckled lightly and turned back to his notebook.

"That's what happens when you stick two short tempered loudmouths together, I suppose." Tayuya snorted lightly and resumed her exercises. She was just about done for the morning, only having fifty-one pushups and one hundred and fifty squats to go. She could already feel and see the effects of the rigorous training schedule that she and Naruto had been forced to do.

Her body, which had been a bit fleshy and curvy before, now contained a small amount of muscular definition. Instead of the smooth, flat stomach she'd had after her operation, there were tiny barely noticeable lines that subtly outlined the edges of her abdominals. Her arms and legs were also ridden with faint defining lines, and although she was slightly worried about how much muscle she would actually put on, both Jiraiya and Anko had assured her that she'd be able to maintain an obviously feminine figure.

They had also promised her that by the time the six months were up, both she and Naruto would be able to hold their own against any chuunin level ninja in taijutsu. Tayuya missed working with her genjutsu, but she knew that increasing her strength and chakra levels was vital to becoming a good shinobi. Unfortunately, her partner didn't see it that way.

Naruto made it a point to complain about not being able to use his Kage Bunshin every single morning at the breakfast table. While eating his oatmeal, milk, and toast, the boy would constantly jabber on about how unfair it was that he couldn't use his clones to help harvest wheat in Juro's fields, and how the chore made him too tired to train. The two of them were forced to wake up at six o'clock every morning to help the old man, and then had to train with either Anko or Jiraiya a mere two hours later.

Shaking her head, she quickly pumped out her last thirty pushups and hopped to her feet to work on her squats. Her teachers would probably be increasing the workload pretty soon, since both she and Naruto were practically flying through the exercises. A sudden yelp from the other side of the woods reached her ears, and she froze in mid-squat to peer curiously in Naruto and Anko's direction. Her eyes widened when the blond came barreling out of the woods, rushing straight towards her with the purple-haired jounin hot on his heels.

"Help!" he yelled, grabbing Tayuya and hiding behind her. He peeked at the angry woman from over the girl's shoulder, using her as a last line of defense against his teacher. "She's trying to eat me!" Tayuya glanced at Anko to see that she did, indeed, look like she wanted to sink her teeth into the boy's skull. Rolling her eyes, she pulled the boy out from behind her and pushed him towards the seething jounin.

"Do what you will. I'm staying out of this."

"Tayuya-chan!" he yelled, gasping in horror. She shrugged disinterestedly and began to continue exercising, keeping her eyes forward so that she wouldn't have to look at him. Though she hated to admit it, she often fell victim to his pleading puppy dog eyes. Not that anyone could blame her; living in the Sound Village for so long, she hadn't had a chance to build up an immunity against the infamous tactic. The closest thing she'd had to deal with was Jirobou's constant hunger-induced bitching, and that wasn't nearly as cute nor persuasive.

The dark, ominous shadow that appeared in front of Naruto sent a chill down his spine, and he hesitantly lifted his head to look up at a wickedly grinning Anko.

"Now, who did you say was a big, fat ol' grandma?"

----------------

"I can't believe you let her get me," Naruto grumbled, crossing his arms underneath his chest.

"Hey, I'm patching you up, aren't I? Now shut up and hold still." Tayuya tightly wrapped the thick white gauze around his head, using her teeth to tear at the cotton material. Anko had gone a little farther than she'd expected, giving the boy a minor concussion and a bunch of other small scrapes, but he'd live. Most of the smaller wounds had already healed thanks to the Kyuubi, so there wasn't much left for her to fix. He grunted from between her legs, leaning against the rock she was sitting on and throwing his head back to stare at her.

"You don't have to do this, you know. It'll be gone in an hour tops." Tayuya shrugged her shoulders, placing the tape back into the first aid kit.

"Yeah, but it's kinda my fault she kicked your ass. I could've stopped her; or at least made it so that you got off easy." She idly played with the end of her ponytail, wrapping it lightly around her calloused fingers. "How's your training with her coming, anyway? Learn anything good?" Naruto scrunched up his nose, eyes narrowing in the process.

"Nah. She's got me doing this stupid rock-sensing thing now, saying that I need to be aware of twigs and stuff every time I move. I think she's making it up!" Annoyed, Tayuya flicked his upturned nose.

"She's not making it up. _I'm_ the one who reminded her of it in the first place."

"What?! You mean, Orochimaru's gonna teach Sasuke-teme how to do this too?!"

"Most likely, if he doesn't know how to do it already. It's a pretty damn important skill for a ninja to have. With enough practice, you'll be able to sense chakra from a mile away." A sudden twinkle appeared in her eye as she came up with an idea. Placing a thoughtful finger on her chin, she tilted her head and looked up at the sky. "Hm, it'd be bad if Sasuke could learn this skill and you couldn't." Predictably, Naruto's face hardened into that determined glare she'd become accustomed to over the last few months.

"Ha! If he can learn it, so can I! C'mon, Tayuya-chan, let's go train!" He jumped to his feet and began to march off towards the grassy area he and Anko had been training in earlier. The girl snorted and leaned back on the rock, closing her eyes as she did so.

"Fuck that, I'm on break. Figure it out yourself." In between training sessions, the genin were allowed a one hour recess to eat and regain some energy. Although she really didn't have much to do that afternoon except stationary chakra control exercises, she was still a bit tired from helping Jiraiya pull the snake jounin off of a badly beaten Naruto. The woman was surprisingly strong when angry, tossing both she and the Toad Sage to the ground at least twice during the confrontation. Sadly, fighting with Anko had seemed like more of a workout than what she'd done that entire morning.

"What?! But you have to! I can't ask Anko again, she'd kill me! Please, Tayuya-chan?! Please, please, please, please, please --" Naruto took a deep breath before continuing. "--please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please --"

"Alright already, just shut the hell up!" she yelled, slamming her hands over her ears. When he couldn't use his puppy dog eyes, he usually resorted to annoying her. The sad thing was, it _always_ worked. Why the hell had she agreed to this trip, anyway? It'd been nothing but one big headache so far. Satisfied that he'd gotten her on his side, the blond jumped up and down in excitement.

"Yes! Let's go!" The girl held up a hand, stopping him before he could turn around to leave.

"Hold up. I didn't say I'd help you _now_. If you really want my help, meet me here tonight at ten. I can help you train while I practice." He raised his eyebrows a bit, walking over until he was standing right in front of her.

"Huh? Practice what?"

"My flute playing, idiot. Even though you probably haven't noticed, I've been practicing every night at the same time for the past four weeks." Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head, ashamed that he actually _hadn't_ noticed. He was usually knocked out by the time his head hit the pillow, and she was always there when he woke up. He'd never even considered the possibility that she was sneaking away during the night. His thoughts were interrupted when Tayuya hopped onto her feet and began to walk away.

"Where're you going?" he called, watching her ponytail bounce as she headed down the hill. They often hung out on top of the mound of grass in their downtime, liking the small amount of privacy it provided from their teachers. Besides a large rock they mainly used for resting, a huge tree protruded from the ground, casting shade over the majority of the hilltop during the warmer afternoon hours.

"To get food. Remember, tonight at ten!" With a small wave, she disappeared from his vision as she headed towards the house, leaving a frowning Naruto in her wake.

"Hey! That means I'll lose sleep!"

-----------------

Tayuya swept her eyes over the clearing in front of her from her perch on the hilltop. It was already five minutes after ten, and Naruto had yet to show up for training. Her mouth twitching downwards, she lifted her flute to her lips and closed her eyes. She'd thought about waking him up on her way out, but figured it'd be a lesson in responsibility if he came to her on his own. The girl gently shook her head to clear her mind before taking a deep breath. It didn't really matter either way; it wasn't as if she was waiting for him.

Blowing gently into the metal woodwind, she gradually released every emotion that she'd felt that day; Anger, joy, pity, annoyance, loneliness, and to a tiny degree, lust. Her fingers automatically played a tune that perfectly described how and what she felt, blending the notes together into a perfect rendition of where she was at that moment in time. The melody wasn't slow and sad like it was when she had her old flute; for some reason, this flute felt special, almost like magic. Her thoughts eventually turned to the boy who had bought it for, and unknowingly, her song began to pick up in tempo and force.

She felt a small sweat break out on her forehead as she lost herself to the music, swaying gently with the wavelengths of her own harmony. The tune was now happy and frantic, every now and then receding into sadness and yearning. She was painting a perfect mosaic of her life, seemingly mixing and blending the different notes together to produce a sound more beautiful than the heavens themselves. Finally, after one more furious burst of passion filled playing, she gently slowed her pace down until she was left panting with exertion.

Her body tingled all over, sending tiny waves of pleasure all the way to the edges of her toes. She felt herself unwillingly shudder, and wiping a few beads of sweat from her forehead, she leaned back against the tree and lifted her eyes to stare at the night sky. Kami, it felt good to let herself go. The quiet sound of clapping reached her ears, and she nearly jumped fifteen feet in the air as she reeled on the person to her right.

"N-Naruto?!" she shrieked, turning her head to stare into his awestruck cerulean eyes. The boy's mouth was slightly ajar with mild shock, and she felt herself blush at the incredulous expression that he regarded her with. She was at her most vulnerable when playing her flute -- it was nearly impossible to lock away her feelings so soon after expressing them.

"That was _awesome_, " Naruto breathed. Willing herself to calm down, she dangerously narrowed her eyes at the blond.

"You're late." Not giving him a chance to speak, she hopped to her feet and began to walk towards the clearing they'd been training in earlier. "Come on, the sooner we finish, the sooner we can go back to sleep." He furrowed his eyebrows and got up to follow.

"Wait! Can't you play something else first? What was that song called?" Tayuya grit her teeth in annoyance. That song wasn't meant for him! It was meant to be for her _own_ selfish satisfaction and emotional release. She couldn't express herself otherwise, and it angered her that he'd practically eavesdropped on a private conversation that she'd had with herself. Granted, he probably didn't know, but still...

"Just shut the fuck up about it, okay?! I thought you came here to train, not listen to me play!" Looking largely taken aback, Naruto jogged a bit until he was walking directly next to her. He tilted his head in confusion as he tried to look at her face.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked, completely unaware of her feelings. She suddenly stopped and turned to look the boy in the eyes, sighing loudly as she did so. Her momentary anger was already fading as she stared at his blue, innocent orbs, and she briefly hung her head in defeat. Getting mad at him wouldn't do anything. Besides, there was no possible way that he could figure out what the song was trying to convey, and it wasn't as if he'd meant to listen in on her.

"No, Naruto, you didn't do anything wrong. I'm just annoyed that you're late." She almost smiled when he seemed to so easily accept her answer. Glancing around at the tall grass surrounding them, she roughly scratched at her bright red hair and nodded to herself, walking until she was standing approximately ten feet in front of him. "Let's get started. What did Anko tell you about this exercise when you first began?" The blond rubbed his chin with his fingernails, obviously thinking deeply.

"Well, she said not to step on anything that might give my position away -- like rocks, twigs, and branches. She also said I had to look forward while I did it." Tayuya nodded her head lightly, tapping the end of her flute against her open palm as she thought.

"Alright, I think I see where she steered you wrong. Actually, it's better if you do step on those things."

"What?!"Tayuya lifted her eyes in thought. How could she explain it in a way that he would understand? Her fingers unwittingly tugged at the bright orange fabric of her shirt. He wouldn't be able to comprehend what she was saying if she explained it in technical terms, so she'd have to dumb it down a little (i.e. a lot) so that he could understand.

"Okay, it's like this. You have to step on it to sense it -- however, once you touch it, you have to move your foot so that you don't step on it all the way. It's not so much avoiding the object as it is reacting to its position once you know where it is. Got it?" Naruto slowly nodded his head. It did seem to make more sense than the way Anko had described it. "Good. Now, try to walk over to me without making a sound. Take your time, we still have a couple of hours."

She watched with mild amusement as he took a careful step forward, snapping a thin branch in half on his first try. The girl motioned for him to take a step back and try again, placing a lazy hand on the hip of her spandex shorts as she waited.

"Remember, Naruto, step lightly and react once you touch something. It's an acquired skill, so don't worry if you don't get it on the first few tries. Just keep your eyes on me and concentrate." He took a deep, relaxing breath of air, letting it out slowly through his lightly pursed lips. The full moon illuminated the girl in front of him perfectly, and he was suddenly reminded of that time four weeks ago when they'd first arrived. He remembered how soft and angelic she'd looked in those few seconds, the complete opposite of the girl he knew as his current closest friend.

Now, however, she looked even more beautiful. Her hair was hanging loosely around her shoulders and down her back, a rarity since she usually had her thick red hair up in a ponytail during the day. The thin, elegant strands blew gently in the nighttime breeze, wrapping around her head like dueling flames. The moonlight perfectly outlined the smooth contours of her body to produce a shape that was uniquely hers. Everything around him was quiet except for the sound of his own light footsteps, and it almost seemed as if he and Tayuya were the only two existing things on Earth. The sound of clapping snapped him out of his daze, and he roughly blinked his eyes a few time to gain his bearings.

"You did it! That wasn't so hard, was it?" she asked, practically grinning from ear to ear. Her grin faltered a bit when she realized that he was still staring intently at her, his eyes never leaving hers for even a second. It was slightly unnerving since he was only standing a foot in front of her. "Hey, Naruto, you're starting to freak me the fuck out over here..."

"Huh? Oh, sorry! I thought I saw something, ahahaha!" He nervously scratched the back of his head, putting on a wide grin of his own. The girl eyed him carefully for a few more seconds before taking a cautious step back. She didn't like the way he had been looking at her.

"Well, go back and try it again -- just to be sure you've got it." The blond stiffly nodded his head and walked backwards to his original spot. His mind was jumbled with confusing thoughts, and as soon as he'd taken his first step, Naruto had managed to step onto a particularly large and old piece of wood. It produced probably the loudest snap that either of them had ever heard in their lives. Tayuya's face held a deadpan expression, and she stared at him with a disbelieving glare. "...What was that? Did you really forget how to do it that fucking fast?!" When he didn't answer, she sighed deeply and held out her arms. "Do what you did before! Concentrate, block out everything outside of your immediate range, and focus solely on me."

He nodded and closed his eyes, trying to emulate exactly what'd he'd done before. _Concentrate._ He wiped every thought from his mind, concentrating on the task at hand. _Block out everything outside of your immediate range._ Opening his eyes, he formed a small protective barrier of awareness around himself, completely ignoring the chirping of the crickets and rustling of the leaves in the background. Amazingly, it was as if he could see and hear everything within two feet of himself. _Focus solely on me. _Narrowing his eyes a bit, he stared directly at the redhead waiting only eleven feet away. He noticed that a clear path seemed to open up in front of him, and that everything outside of that narrow passageway was somewhat darkened.

Letting loose the small breath he'd been holding, Naruto took a firm step forward. His ears were met with the soft, light thud of his own footstep, and confident that he could do it, he took another cautious step. Without even staring at his feet, he knew exactly where he and every little stone was on the mental pathway. He'd never felt anything like this in his entire life; it was the ultimate feeling of awareness, and he wondered how the hell he'd survived without learning this before. Almost as if he were taking a leisurely stroll through the park, he walked up to a smiling Tayuya without making a sound.

"Yes!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing his fists into the air. "I did it! I felt what you and Anko were talking about!" He suddenly threw his arms around the grinning girl, hugging her tightly against his body. "Thanks, Tayuya-chan! You're the best!" The girl closed her eyes for a few seconds, somewhat enjoying the awkward embrace. It wasn't as uncomfortable as it had been when the Hokage hugged her only a month before; in fact, she sort of liked it. Being appreciated was something she rarely got to experience in her lifetime, and she suddenly found that it was a rather pleasurable feeling. Her amber orbs snapped open at this train of thought, and she roughly pushed the blond away.

"H-hey! I know you're happy and all, but that doesn't mean you can get all familiar with me!" she yelled, wrapping her own arms around her body. Clearing her throat, she turned away from the confused genin. "Anyway, we still have work to do." Naruto tilted his head.

"Huh? But, I already did it!"

"No, you did the first part. Next, you have to come to me without using your eyes at all. It requires that you can sense both me and the objects around you. Don't worry, since you've got this part down, doing it with your eyes closed shouldn't be hard at all." The boy sighed but nodded, already heading back to his starting spot. If it would help him get stronger, he'd do it; even at the cost of his well deserved sleep. Closing his eyes once again to concentrate, he took a careful step forward -- only to immediately step on a large branch, snapping the poor piece of wood in half and emitting a horribly loud crackling sound.

It was going to be a long night.

-------------------

** AN: SEE, WHAT HAD HAPPENED WAS... **


	20. Chapter 20

**Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 20**

Juro sighed for the fifth time that morning. Even after five weeks of help from the young genin Jiraiya had brought with him, he was largely behind schedule, and together they'd only managed to harvest around one fourth of the wheat in his field. He couldn't blame _them_, though; the kids were remarkably fast learners, getting the hang of using a scythe in only a week.

The first couple of days had been rough. The two of them had constantly hacked and slashed at the grass, tiring themselves out and turning that part of the field into mulch finer than anything currently available in the Fire Country. Their main problem had been that they were being impatient, and were trying to cut too much of the wheat at once. Once he'd shown them the correct technique, however, Naruto and Tayuya together had managed to match his own harvesting output easily within a few days.

The man lifted his head and looked over at the teens working a few hundred feet away to his left. Even if they weren't the quickest or most efficient workers, he had to admire their zeal. They rarely complained about having to do such hard labor in the cold December weather. On the contrary; the two often looked forward to working with the curved blade, claiming that it was possibly the most badass tool they'd ever used in their entire lives.

He smiled as the redhead bopped Naruto on top of the head for Kami knows what reason. Admittedly, he'd grown right fond of the young shinobi. There was never a dull moment as long as they were awake, and even while they were sleeping the genin somehow managed to provide the adults with some form of entertainment.

Just last night, he, Anko, and Jiraiya had been giggling perversely while taking pictures of the two cuddled up against one another as they slept. Tayuya's head had been resting against the boy's chest, and her arms half encircling him as if he were a big teddy bear. Even from the doorway they could see the copious amounts of drool that was seeping into Naruto's shirt, the fluid literally pouring out of the sleeping girl's mouth like the waterfall in the Valley of the End.

He'd briefly wondered if she knew what she was doing, but easily decided that it was an unconscious action; she didn't seem like the type to want to get all cozy with _anyone, _even if she did have an obvious soft spot for her blond partner. She was probably just clinging onto whatever warmth she could find -- even if he DID have a huge fire roaring downstairs, it was pretty damn cool in the upstairs rooms.

Being the generous man that he was, he'd reluctantly pulled the two apart to help them avoid an unavoidably awkward and violent morning. Nevermind the fact that if Tayuya killed Naruto, he'd have one less person helping him harvest his field.

Lightly shaking his head, he felt his smile drop a bit as he remembered that the teens were still shinobi. He'd never agreed with training kids to be killers at such a young age, believing that they should be allowed to grow up before being exposed to the horrors of the ninja world. It was almost like some horrible, twisted paradox; if they weren't trained, they would undoubtedly be killed in this dog eat dog world, and if they were trained, they were the ones who would be doing the killing.

Suddenly remembering why he'd been seeking the genin out, he gently placed his fingers into his mouth, blowing forcefully between the two appendages. When they looked in his direction, he lifted his hand into the air and motioned for them to come over.

"What's up, old man?" Tayuya asked, scythe hanging over her shoulder as she approached. The front of her long-sleeved top was covered in dirt, and looking at the mischievously grinning boy following behind her, Juro suddenly understood why she'd hit him on the head. Shaking his own head again in mirth, he lifted his scythe and planted the tool handle-first into the ground.

"How would you kids like to learn a little trick to help this work go a bit faster?" Predictably, both teens' eyes widened to impossible proportions. Naruto was the first to jump forward, dropping his scythe and latching onto the man like a leech.

"Really?! What kind of trick?! Teach us, teach us!" he yelled, excitement clearly written all over his face. The man laughed loudly, easily pushing the boy back with one hand. Picking up the scythe once again, he turned back towards the field of wheat he'd been working on prior to their immediate arrival.

"Alright, alright. Watch closely, now!" The two genin nodded and stared diligently at the scythe, waiting for something to happen. Juro pulled back the handle of the tool, and with a quick swipe, he cut down a sizable chunk of the grain. Both Naruto and Tayuya felt themselves sweatdrop.

"Wow. You chopped a few feet of wheat. Whoop-de-fucking-doo." She rolled her eyes for emphasis, crossing her arms in obvious annoyance. He'd made them walk all that way just to show them how much more wheat he could cut down in one swing than they could. Suddenly, her eyes went wide for the second time in two minutes as she realized exactly what he'd done. Despite their blades being the exact same size, the older man had somehow managed to chop nearly twice as much wheat down as they could. "How the hell'd you do that?!" she exclaimed, ignoring the confused glance she got from her partner.

"Huh? Do what? All I saw was him cutting down a whole bunch of wheat." Just as Tayuya had done a few seconds before, Naruto's face lit up in realization. "Ohhh! Hey, teach us how to do it!" Surprised, the redhead turned to stare at the normally dense blond. She'd usually have to give him a long, watered down, and detailed explanation before he was able to understand what was going on. Maybe those books he'd been forced to read every week were beginning to pay off. Juro laughed again, lifting the scythe into the air so that they could see it.

"Ah, you noticed on the first try! Good job!" He brought the blade to their eye level, placing both hands on the wooden handle of the instrument. "What I did was this." The two of them watched amazed as a long stream of light blue chakra flowed from the pointy edge of the scythe, extending the blade to nearly twice it's normal length. "I bet you thought it was something more extravagant, huh? I'm actually just channeling my chakra into the handle, and from there, I force my chakra to mold itself into an extension of the blade. Even though you've probably seen this done before with kunai or swords, I can assure you that this is much, much more difficult since the blade is long and curved. On the bright side, once you've got this down, any other weapon should be a cakewalk. So, what do you think? Interested?" Looking at him in disbelief, the redhead frowned and removed her scythe from her shoulder.

"What the fuck kind of question is that?! This is the most amazing shit I've had a chance to learn since we started this trip!" she exclaimed, eyes shining despite her scowl. Her frown deepened as she realized something important. "But, me and Naruto aren't allowed to use ninjutsu until the six months are up."

"Hm? This isn't ninjutsu; there are no handseals, and this technique doesn't really have a name. It's just like using your chakra to walk on water, and it would also help with your control and stamina. Well?" The teens exchanged a brief glance, unsure as to whether to believe the man or not. On one hand, he had a point; technically, the technique didn't really count as ninjutsu. On the other hand, their teachers might not see it that way. Tayuya's eyes narrowed as she realized exactly what she was thinking.

Since when did she care what _they_ thought? She was on this trip to get stronger; nothing more, nothing less. If some old bastard wanted to teach her a new trick, then fuck, she'd take what she could get! A resolute frown on her face, she stabbed the handle of her scythe into the ground, perfectly mirroring Juro's pose.

"Teach me."

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"Fucking hell! God fucking damnit, why the hell won't this faggoty fucking shit work! Fuck, fuck, fuckity _FUCK_!" Naruto stared amazed as Tayuya, for the first time in nearly two months, went on a swearing tangent. Though, he couldn't say that he blamed her; this new technique they were learning was probably one of the hardest things he'd ever had the displeasure of learning. Besides the Rasengan and bunshin no jutsu, anyway -- something he still hadn't managed to master. They'd been at it for nearly a week now, spending the time they would usually use harvesting wheat to get the hang of the jutsu. He smirked when the angry redhead threw her scythe to the ground and began to stomp on it, effectively digging the tool further into the dirt.

He almost couldn't understand why she was so angry. She'd already managed to extend her chakra six inches from the edge of the blade as opposed to his five, and according to the old man, that was way farther than he'd gotten in a week. Shaking his head to clear his mind (something he'd become better at over the past six weeks), he stared intently at the wood and metal tool in his hand. He smoothly molded his chakra into a thin string, and concentrating hard to keep the line from breaking, steadily pushed his chakra into the wooden handle of the scythe.

Naruto began to pump more and more chakra into the string, lengthening the thin line until it reached the smooth metal of the curved blade. This was the hard part. Now, he had to flatten and expand the chakra string until it became an extension of the blade itself. He was suddenly glad for the intense chakra training he'd been forced to endure over the last few weeks. The light blue energy protruded from the edge of the blade, making the sharp corner of the weapon longer. Immediately, Tayuya appeared at his side with a small twelve-inch ruler in hand, holding it up to the scythe to measure his progress. It was starting to amaze him how she could sense when he needed her.

"Five and a half. Shit, you're gaining on me," she murmured, her small frown deepening. He relaxed his grip on the weapon to cut off the flow of chakra.

"Hey, you only have four more inches to go! I don't get why you're so pissed off." She sighed and turned her glare to the now half-buried scythe.

"I'm pissed off because it's fucking impossible! I've been stuck at six inches for two days now!"

"Yeah, but didn't the old man say that the last few inches were the hardest? We just have to practice it more, that's all." Her eyebrows raised slightly in surprise, and she placed her lightly calloused palm on the boy's forehead.

"Are you feeling okay? Since when did you get so damn mature?" she asked, a teasing grin on her face. He slapped her hand away with a small glare, sticking his tongue out as he did so.

"I didn't get more mature, you just got more immature!" Tayuya blinked and tilted her head, loosely tossing the idea around in her mind. Anko had made a similar comment the day before, stating that she was acting more and more like Naruto every day. She'd certainly gotten used to being around the boy, and she no longer felt the need to put up such a strong guard against him. No matter how she looked at it, the boy didn't have an evil or plotting bone in his body; fuck, when she'd joined Orochimaru nearly eight years ago, she'd easily been able to sense the man (thing?)'s malevolent intentions.

"Maybe." The blond stared at her in mild shock, unable to believe that she hadn't smacked him for the not-so-subtle insult. Before he could comment, a loud clanging sound resounded from the direction of the house. "Damn, it's time to train already? I barely gained a centimeter! You stay out here; I'll bring us some water and shit from the kitchen." Grumbling, she dragged her feet over to the house to change into some clothes more suitable for taijutsu training. It took just under five minutes to reach Juro's brick house, and even less time to make it up to her and Naruto's room. She closed the Western style door behind her with a click, making sure to lock it behind her.

Glancing back at the door one more time just to be safe, she tugged her long black pants down her legs and tossed them into the basket resting in the corner. It was already full with their combined clothing, and wrinkling her noise slightly, she realized that they'd have to do some laundry sometime soon; something she really, _really_ sucked at.

In the Sound Village, she simply tossed her things down a large metal chute and they were clean by the next day. She never questioned why this was or who did it -- mostly because she didn't give a fuck. Now, however, Tayuya was forced to fend for herself. Naruto had proven to be quite skilled at using a washing machine and dryer, and in under two hours, had both of their clothing washed, dried, and folded. Not wanting to lose to him in anything, she'd practically demanded that he teach her how to use the large devices or suffer an eternity of pain and agony. Needless to say, he agreed.

To her shock, it had been astonishingly simple; pick your load size, dump in a bit of soap, and then throw your clothes in right after. Although it was a very small and insignificant victory, she'd celebrated and cheered as exuberantly as she would if she'd learned an S-ranked genjutsu. A small smile came onto face as she recalled the memory. Her teammate had danced just as excitedly around the house with her, yelling and shouting at the top of his lungs to help her commemorate her latest achievement -- at least until the washing machine began to shake and tremble with animal ferocity, spewing suds and water everywhere in the small washroom. Apparently, 'a bit' of soap meant around half a cup, not half the box. They'd had to spend the better part of the night cleaning up the soapy mess, but it wasn't as bad as she'd thought it would be.

The two of them had played a game of 'Hide and Go Tag' in the thick white foam as they cleaned, sliding and slithering along the floor in their search for the other person. It was impossible to see anything through the bubbling chaos, and she'd screamed in surprise more than a few times when Naruto had grabbed either her ankle or arm during their game. She didn't think she'd ever played so carelessly or had so much fun in her life!

It took a few seconds to realize that tears had been dripping towards the wooden floor below her, some of them landing on the toes protruding from her ninja sandals and others splashing against the polished floorboards of the room. She watched them fall with a sense of detachment, utterly unable to believe what was happening.

"Why the fuck am I crying?" she mumbled to herself, wiping at her eyes with her clothed arm. Tayuya quickly sniffed the snot back up into her nose and grabbed a pair of the black pants she'd bought in the last town, pulling them up her legs and walking over to the door as fast as she could. Naruto would undoubtedly come looking for her if she didn't emerge from the house soon; that's just the kind of idiot he was. Making sure that she had herself completely together, she swung the door open and hopped down the steps to the kitchen. After grabbing a couple of water bottles and two rolls from the fridge, Tayuya rushed back out of the house to meet with her teammate.

"Oh? Is that for me?" an annoyingly familiar voice asked from behind her. Anko reached her arms around the redhead and grabbed one of the pieces of bread, pressing herself up against the shorter girl in a way that would cause Jiraiya to have a pelvic hemorrhage. Rather than get upset (It only provoked the snake bitch further as she'd found out), she took a step forward and snatched the pastry back, striding away from the now mischievously grinning woman. "Don't tell me it's for Naru-chan. It is, isn't it? I can tell!" Fed up, the girl turned around to glare at her teacher.

"Yeah, so what? Is there somethin' fucking wrong with that?!"

"Hm? No, not at all. Except, I already fed him, so he might not be hungry anymore." At Tayuya's surprised look, her grin widened and she hugged the redhead to her chest, leaning her own head on top of the genin's. "But don't worry, I'm not planning to steal him from you just yet. Maybe when he matures a bit more I'll think about it," she cooed, stroking the girl's ponytail like a mother would her daughter. Tayuya violently shrugged out of the woman's grip and began to stalk towards the open field opposite the woods.

"What the hell're you talking about? That's good for me. Now I don't have to fuckin' walk all the way over to that dipshit and his faggot of a teacher." She threw one of the rolls onto the ground, inadvertently amusing Anko even more. It had only been six weeks and she was already having fun! It was so easy to get a reaction out of the redhead that she almost felt bad. _Almost_. Jogging after her, the jounin threw her arm around the fuming girl's shoulders.

"That's the spirit! Training should come before everything else; even love!" She skipped away just in time to avoid an angry thrust kick to the stomach, grinning that annoying grin all the while. "Not bad! If you weren't so sloppy, you might have actually had a shot at hitting me!" Tayuya grit her teeth, slowly grinding them together in an attempt to control her anger. Needless to say, the effort was futile, and in a fit of rage she began to attack her teacher in hopes of permanently disabling the jounin.

After throwing the rest of the things she held in her hands onto the ground, she launched a powerful roundhouse towards Anko's head, a kick which the woman easily dodged. Growling deeply, she dropped her body to the ground and performed a leg sweep in an attempt to knock her off of her feet. The jounin simply hopped over the leg and shook her head, sighing deeply for emphasis.

"Is this as far as you've come in six weeks? I know this is only your first spar, but I expected that you'd at least come _close_ to hitting me." Tayuya flipped herself onto her feet, running towards the woman with the intent to kill. As soon as she got close enough, she twisted her body into a backwards roundhouse aimed towards her opponent's head. When Anko caught the leg, the redhead jumped into the air to perform a turnover kick, rotating over and around the held leg and snapping her foot at her teacher's unguarded face. "Naive," the jounin smirked. She dropped the girl onto the ground, and not even a second after, stomped her foot into Tayuya's unprotected abdomen.

The pain Tayuya felt was unimaginable, and she rolled over onto her hands and knees in an attempt to lessen the pain, coughing violently as she struggled to regain her breath. Another unexpected kick to her stomach sent her flying and skidding across the field until she somehow managed to regain enough of her bearings to roll herself onto her feet.

"What the fuck're you doing, bitch?!" she screamed, still holding her now undoubtedly bruised stomach. That last kick had hurt like a motherfucker. Anko lazily placed her hands on her hips, striding over to her student at an easy pace.

"Huh? What do you mean? We were fighting, right? Why would I give you enough time to stand up and regroup for another attack?" Well, shit. The bitch was right. Her eyes widened in shock (and a bit of fear) when the jounin didn't stop walking, and she immediately understood what was going to happen next. "Why are you backing up? Didn't you want to fight?" Anko lifted her leg to throw a front kick, and Tayuya quickly lowered her hands to block it. However, the older woman stepped to the side and delivered a powerful reverse elbow into her jaw. As she reeled from the pain, her teacher followed up with a reverse kick to her once again unprotected stomach, sending Tayuya sprawling to the ground.

Remembering what happened last time, the genin rolled onto her throbbing abdomen and pushed herself to her feet. She then let out a frustrated scream and threw a side kick towards the woman's smiling face. As if she'd seen it coming a mile away, Anko easily parried the attack with her shin and slammed her elbow into Tayuya's knee joint, ripping a cry of pain from her throat.

"You...that's not Taekwondo!" she yelled, nursing her bruised kneecap. The jounin shrugged her shoulders uncaringly, kneeling down next to her student.

"Of course it is; I just used it more effectively. What you know as Taekwondo is probably different from what I know. Undoubtedly, you only know of the style from what you've seen in competitions or in dojos. Right?" Tayuya slowly nodded her head, not quite understanding where she going with the question. "That's the sport, or as I like to call it, pussy version of this martial art. What I'm teaching you is old-style Taekwondo, or the techniques that are beneficial in actual combat. The most important thing to remember is that if there's an opening, take it. Staying rigid to one style is a huge disadvantage, no matter what art you're learning." She grabbed the girl around her waist and hefted her up to her feet, letting go when she was sure she could stand on her own. "In any case, you probably won't be able to do much practicing today with your knee like that. Let's get some ice for it and see what the boys are up to. Okay?"

Tayuya blinked in mild surprise, staring in awe as Anko went from psychotic bitch to mother hen in all of ten seconds. She could only scowl and nod her head dumbly with compliance, limping towards the house with her teacher hot on her heels.

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"Shit, it's cold..." Tayuya mumbled, pulling her green jacket closer around herself to ward off the persistent chilly weather. Ever since she was a child she'd hated the winter months, willing to take the scorching heat of summer over the unforgiving cold of winter any day. Finally fed up with sitting on the hill she and Naruto had so lovingly dubbed 'Tayuya Mountain' (Okay, so it was more her idea than his), the girl hopped to her feet and stretched. "I'm going down to the house. There's no way in hell I'm spending my day off in this freezing weather." The blond at her side only grunted a response, seemingly oblivious to the cool air around them. Although surprising, Naruto was currently reading a book of his own free will.

Ever since he'd discovered the joy of Japanese mystery novels, the boy literally hadn't been able to put them down. Juro had forced one of the books into his hands, stating that another blond-haired genin he knew in the past used to love them. So far, he'd read almost a quarter of Edogawa Rampo's mystery horror novels, liking the schemes and plans that the main characters come up with in an attempt to pull off the perfect crime. In the beginning, Tayuya had been overjoyed to see that he was taking an active interest in increasing his knowledge. A dumb ninja was usually a dead one, and though she would never say it out loud, she'd prefer that Naruto stay alive for at leas another thirty or so years.

She was also glad that he'd often come to her for help, asking her what certain words meant or how to read them. She'd been more than happy to explain what he didn't know; except when he woke her up in the middle of the night, anyway. Gradually, however, he began to come to her less and less, and eventually, he only really talked to her during training or farming. It was getting to the point where she was starting to see the books as her mortal enemy, secretly wishing that he was the same oblivious blond who preferred to spend the majority of his time annoying her all day.

She glared down at her teammate one last time before shoving her hands in the pockets of her jacket and stalking down the hill. He could freeze to death for all she cared.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?" a deep voice called from her left. Jolted from her thoughts, she snapped her head around to see Juro tying up a particularly large bale of hay, a curious frown marring his normally grinning face. Thin wisps of white smoke floated from his open mouth, a true testament to the ungodly cold weather. Slowing to a gradual stop, Tayuya turned around to address the older man.

"Inside. It's cold." The farmer nodded, agreeing with her decision. If it weren't for the fact that he had to tie up another thirty-five by that night, he would've done the same. His eyes slowly trailed to the space behind the girl, and mildly shocked to find that it was empty, stood up straight and placed his large, weathered hands on his hips.

"That's strange. Where's Naruto? Aren't you two usually connected at the hip?" Snorting loudly, the redhead shrugged her shoulders uncaringly, flipping her long red hair over her shoulder for good measure.

"That's only because he follows me around all the fucking time. I'm glad he's doing something other than bothering me for a change." Juro laughed out loud, bending down once again to work on the next stack of hay.

"Men aren't built to understand a woman's feelings. If you don't tell us directly, we won't know that anything's wrong." At Tayuya's deadpan glare, the farmer laughed again, waving a dismissive hand in front of himself. "Of course, this changes with age. The older you get, the wiser; hence the reason I could sense your distress."

"I'm not fuckin' distressed!" she yelled, her scowl deepening considerably. "And I told you, I don't care whether Naruto's around or not! What the hell is with you old people and your goddamn self righteous bullshit?! You're just like that old Tsukino bitch at the hot springs!" With that, Tayuya stomped her way into the house, slamming the door behind her with all the strength she could muster. In her anger at Juro's words, she missed the shocked look on the old man's face as she stalked away.

"...Tsukino?"

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Tayuya squinched her eyes shut in concentration, fighting to ignore the subtle itching and burning feeling in her stomach. It happened often; more often than not when she training her chakra control with Anko. She'd tried tons of different methods to get rid of the annoying sensation; downing aspirins, chewing on aloe, and even punching herself in the stomach. Unfortunately, none of her ideas yielded the desired result, and the last one had left her bedridden from pain for the entire day.

"Agh, fuck it!" she screamed, standing to her feet while gripping her smoldering stomach. "The more I try to concentrate, the worse it gets! Are you _sure_ you don't know anything?!" Anko glanced away from her magazine to look down at the redhead, an annoyed frown spreading across her face.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Neither Jiraiya nor I can think of any plausible reason for your pains, so until we figure something out, you'll just have to grin and bear it." Before the girl could protest, the jounin hopped down from the tree, tucking her now closed booklet underneath an arm. "It's getting dark anyway, so let's call it a day."

With that, she waltzed towards the house at a leisurely gait, leaving a dumbfounded and pissed off Tayuya in her wake. The genin lifted her arm and shot a bird towards her back, sticking her tongue out for added effect.

"I saw that! Five hundred extra kicks tomorrow!" Anko called without so much as turning around. Tayuya's jaw dropped in surprise.

"What?! Hey!" She started to jog after the woman to complain about her punishment, but a sudden influx of pain in her stomach caused her to stop dead in her tracks. Holding a hand over her abdomen, she bent over and grit her teeth in an attempt to lessen the fiery sensation. The pain this time was worse than it had ever been before, and though she would never say it out loud, it was beginning to scare her. A soft hand on her back caused her to jump a bit, and she slowly lifted her head to look into the concerned brown eyes of her trainer.

"Are you okay?" Unable to speak, Tayuya simply shot Anko a heated glare and shook her head. "Oh. Right. I guess not. How about a shower? You said the pain usually goes away soon after, right?" When the genin nodded, Anko tossed her arm around the younger girl's shoulder in an attempt to help her walk. "It's alright, I've got you." Nodding again, the redhead leaned against the jounin for support, not caring at the moment that she hated her guts.

It took the two of them quite a while to make it upstairs to the bathroom, and once inside, Anko immediately stepped out of the bathroom and walked away; confusing the girl even more. She was shocked to find that the woman wasn't trying to take a shower with her, as she so often attempted to do after their training sessions. Another sharp pang in her stomach refocused her on the matter at hand, and stripping down to her birthday suit, she slowly wormed her way into the shower and turned the water on full blast -- a move which she quickly regretted.

The icy cold blast of water that hit her body quickly made her forget about the simmering heat in her abdomen, and it took every ounce of her willpower not to shriek at the top of her lungs. Luckily, the water quickly warmed up enough to where she didn't feel like a living ice cube. She slowly grabbed her washcloth and soap resting on the rack in the shower and began to lather up, running the rag all over her lightly tanned skin. As she washed, the pain gradually began to lessen, bringing a small, relieved smile to her face. By the time she was finished, she couldn't feel anything at all.

Tayuya stepped out of the shower and dried off, reveling in the feeling of being clean. In the Sound Village, she'd only been able to take showers once every few days; even if she'd trained, fought, or killed during that time. After viciously rubbing her long red hair with a towel, she reached for her night clothes; only to realize that in her haste to get to the bathroom, she'd neglected to grab something clean to wear.

Now, she had two options; One, she could slip back on the clothes she'd used during training and change them as soon as she got back to she and Naruto's room, or two, she could attempt to slip to their room in nothing more than the white towel hanging sloppily around her neck. Normally, this wouldn't have been such a hard decision except for the fact that she'd slipped and fallen into an especially large puddle of mud made from the copious amounts of rain that had descended the night before. If only she'd gone into the house to change when she had the chance.

Cursing under her breath, she tightly wrapped the damp towel around her naked body, covering as much skin as she could with the thin piece of fabric. She cautiously poked her head out of the bathroom, looking both ways numerous times to make sure that no one was coming. Satisfied that it was all clear, Tayuya quickly tiptoed across the hallway and opened the door, stepping inside as hastily as she could. She and Anko had finished early, so Naruto shouldn't be back for another--

"Hey, Tayuya-chan, are you done with the bathroom?" Naruto asked from inside the room. The redhead froze in her tracks, eyes widening and towel almost dropping from her nude form. It took her all of five seconds to realize that he hadn't even looked up from his book, his attention fully focused on the small leather bound novel. His unruly blond hair hung lowly over his eyes, further obscuring his vision, and swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat, realized that she once again had two options.

One, she could slowly back out of the room and return to the bathroom, leaving her with no choice but to put on her muddy clothes so that she could get some fresh ones; not a favorable option. Two, she could hurry over to her bag and hope he didn't notice her state of undress. While risky, it was well worth being able to stay squeaky clean until morning. Tayuya bit her lip in thought. If she didn't make a decision soon, Naruto would look up anyway to see what was taking her so long to answer.

"N-no! Not yet! Just keep doing what you're doing and don't mind me, okay?" The blond grunted a response, turning a page of his book without another word. While she was a little miffed that he was practically ignoring her, she was also glad that she'd be able to slip by unnoticed. Trying to act as naturally as possible, the genin stiffly walked over to her bag and kneeled down in front of it, wasting no time in rummaging around in the large knapsack for any article of clothing that she could get her hands on. It only took a few seconds to find something suitable to wear, but to her, it seemed like hours. The fact that he could look up at any time only added to her panic, yet in a way, she sort of wanted him to see her. At least _then_ he'd actually pay her some sort of attention.

Besides, what did it matter if he saw her or not? She'd been naked around her teammates plenty of times in the past during missions, and it wasn't as if she had anything in particular to hide. A body was a body; once you've seen one you've seen them all, and based on what she'd heard of Naruto's famous Oiroke no Jutsu, he'd seen plenty of nude females in his lifetime. On top that, she wasn't even naked! While thin and tiny, the towel easily covered both of her more private areas. Why the hell was she was so embarrassed?!

Shaking her head lightly in confusion, she hopped to her feet and began to speed walk towards the open door, thoroughly relieved at the fact that she had managed to escape unseen. Just as she reached the doorway, a small grunt was heard from her teammate.

"Ne, Tayuya-chan, what's an...ex-hi-bi-tion-ist?" Tayuya froze mid-step in shock.

"W-what?" she stuttered, unable to believe her ears. Naruto's face scrunched up in thought as he studied the novel in his hands.

"An...ex-hibi-tion-ist. What is it?" The girl swallowed loudly, feeling her heart thump painfully in her chest. Seriously, what were the chances? Someone up there obviously had it out for her; not a completely outrageous idea, considering how many innocent men and women she'd killed in her time as Orochimaru's personal bitch.

"Oh, well...it's a person who does things on purpose to get attention. Usually by...exposing themselves to other people." The blond slowly nodded his head in understanding, placing his nose back in the leather bound book -- much to her relief.

"I see. People like that are gross, don't you think?" Tayuya winced lightly at the comment, remembering how she had considered allowing Naruto to see her scantily clad form in order to gain his concentration. Now she was sure of it; someone was definitely fucking with her.

"Uh, yeah. I'm gonna go...brush my teeth." With that, she hurriedly slipped out of the room and closed the door behind her. Glad to have successfully escaped without being seen (for sure this time), she leaned her back against the door and let loose a tired sigh, lowering her head until her long red locks brushed the tops of her uncovered thighs.

"Whew, that was a close one. Too bad you forgot to grab a change of clothes beforehand, huh?" a positively evil voice said, causing the hairs on the back of the genin's neck to stand up. She snapped her head to her left to see a widely grinning Anko staring at her with a look as devilish as Orochimaru himself. Her eyes widened as she realized what the woman was getting at, and balling her fists at her sides, she fought to maintain control of her temper.

"You set me up." The jounin opened her eyes wide and placed a delicate hand over her heart, gasping loudly for added effect.

"Moi?" she questioned, unable to completely hide her smirk, "Are you saying that I purposefully planned for you to forget your night clothes so that you'd have to walk half-naked into your room to get them, knowing full well that Naru-chan would be there waiting to use the bathroom next?" When Tayuya grit her teeth in anger, Anko shrugged her shoulders and smiled again. "You're right, I did. Consider that your punishment for flipping me off earlier; though I have to say, you got off relatively easily. I didn't expect for Naru-chan to completely ignore you. Has he lost interest in you _already? _It's only been three months." The genin's eye twitched ever so slightly, the only clue that her teacher's words had hit a nerve. Quickly hardening her gaze, she walked into the bathroom before turning around to meet Anko's amused gaze.

"Fuck off." She slammed the door shut, reveling in the small amount of satisfaction she got from the action. Sure, it was a bit immature, but she was still 14; as far as she was concerned, it was perfectly normal. Still, maybe the bitch was right. Maybe he _had_ gotten bored of her during their time together. It wouldn't be the first time she'd been abandoned by someone she thought well of -- Orochimaru was the latest example of that. Tayuya sighed deeply for what felt like the hundredth time that day. Rather than jump to conclusions like Anko probably expected her to, she resolved to talk to Naruto about it right after dinner.

She'd take Juro's advice and ask the boy directly; it'd made it easier on both of them. In fact, it was probably better this way. From the beginning, they were from two totally different worlds; he was born in the light, and she was born in darkness. She was just deluding herself into thinking that they could coexist, let alone be friends. If he didn't have the guts to end their friendship, then she'd do it for him. For both of them.

With that thought in mind, she quickly got dressed and left the bathroom, already planning what she would say to him that night.

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**AN: Ah, sorry. I'm still used to calling the Fourth Arashi. Thank you all for pointing it out to me. And thanks to Captain Deadpool for the help!**


	21. Chapter 21

**The Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 21**

"Hey, these things are pretty tasty!" Juro exclaimed, the awkward tone in his voice not missed by anyone. The atmosphere at the dinner was abhoringly tense; most of it coming from the usually loud redhead staring intently at the blond sitting next to her.

Amazingly enough, the boy didn't even seem to _notice_ her gaze, instead continuing to read through a particularly thick scroll that he'd received from Jiraiya that afternoon. Noticing the pleading look from the old farmer, Anko smiled uneasily and continued the conversation.

"Oh, yeah, they are! Even though it's hard to believe, Taya-chan actually made them herself!" Surprised, Juro glanced down at the skewered dumplings. Because it was dango, he'd automatically assumed that Anko had made them. That, and the redhead didn't exactly seem like the type to have any household skills whatsoever.

"Did she now? Well, I'll be damned! You did a great job, Tayuya!" The silence that followed his compliment was deafening. The girl hadn't so much as flinched at his words, instead opting to continue her cross examination of the boy to her left. Sighing, the old man turned his eyes towards Jiraiya, issuing the silent command for him to try to get the teens to talk.

"Oi, Naruto, why don't you put that thing down for awhile and try some of this food? It's pretty good." Rather than answer, Naruto grabbed one of the skewers and pulled a dough ball off of the wooden stick with his teeth. Shortly after, he stood from the table and began to walk towards the living room.

"Gochisosama," he muttered, eyes never leaving the paper. All four of the shinobi still sitting at the table watched him leave with equally dumbfounded expressions. Naruto turning down a meal was like Orochimaru preferring women over little boys; it was fucking_ impossible_.

"Maybe you should've gone with ramen for dinner, eh, Taya-chan?" the jounin joked, nudging the girl next to her with a wide grin. Suddenly, Tayuya too stood up and followed the blond into the neighboring room, completely brushing off Anko's question and leaving an equally untouched plate behind.

By now, Juro had become positively alarmed. Ever since the first day they'd arrived, the genin had been nothing but noisy. In fact, he couldn't even remember the last time he'd enjoyed a quiet night by the fireplace or a meal without constant bickering and fighting over food. Admittedly, he'd become a bit spoiled over the few months that they'd been there, and seeing both of them barely speaking or eating was a sure sign of the apocalypse.

"Tch, what's her problem?" Anko mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. Both men stared at her with a deadpan glare, much to her annoyance. "What?! I didn't do anything!" The sannin took a small sip from his cup of sake.

"You didn't?" The woman huffed and rolled her eyes.

"Okay, I _may_ have said and done some things to Taya-chan to make her a bit moody, and I _may_ have forced her to experience probably the most embarrassing moment of her young life for my own selfish amusement. But I honestly don't know what's up with Naruto. I swear!" Seemingly satisfied with her answer, the farmer let out a loud sigh.

"Perhaps we should just let it be. They _are_ at that age, you know, so it isn't completely unnatural for them to be a little out of it. It's probably just a phase or something." Jiraiya nodded his head in agreement, downing the rest of his cup in one swallow.

"Yes, that's probably for the best. Though, is it really wise to leave two hormonal, adolescent teenagers alone for too long? Tsunade would have my dick on a silver platter if there were any _accidents_ on this trip." Anko choked on her tea in mirth, banging on her chest with a hard fist in an attempt to keep from suffocating.

"If it were possible, I'd love to see what kind of kid those two would put produce! It'd be a horrible mix between a foulmouthed bitch and a hyperactive idiot -- otherwise known as the second coming of the Fourth." Juro cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"What do you mean by 'if it were possible'?" The jounin's face took on a slightly somber look.

"Well, if she was treated anything like I was during my time with Orochimaru, there's a fairly good chance that she's barren. There's also a good chance that she already knows it." The farmer frowned deeply at her words, anger evident in his eyes.

"If she doesn't know, we shouldn't tell her; not yet, anyway. The last thing we need is for her to hold herself back anymore than she already has." Jiraiya snickered from his position next to Juro.

"Why, Juro, you almost sound as if you're concerned about Tayuya!"

"Shut up."

--

Tayuya watched Naruto read from her spot in the doorway. His eyes were focused solely on the roll of paper in his hands, eyebrows furrowed in obvious concentration. His entire oblivious demeanor was pissing her off.

It positively amazed her that he hadn't felt her eyes on him during dinner. She'd been told dozens of times by former subordinates and victims alike that her gaze could be felt from miles away, piercing and scaring the shit out of anyone it happened to land on. Even now she was concentrating all of her energy into her glare, hoping he'd look up long enough for her to say what she wanted to.

Unfortunately, the longer she stood there, the less she wanted to talk to him. The blond's aura was starting to become more and more unapproachable, seeming to literally push her further out of the room. What would he say when she cut off their friendship? Would he be sad? Or would he just shrug and go back to reading the scroll? Unable to take the pressure, Tayuya took a hesitant step back.

Shit, she felt weak. Fucking around with Naruto had probably messed her up for good. Since when had she ever been afraid to approach someone? Hell, she'd approached Orochimaru _hundreds_ of times without a second thought (Although she was always a bit wary). So why was some genin, who didn't even have a _hundredth_ of Orochimaru's sadistic freakiness or power, able to push her back without even trying?!

She tightly clenched her fists and marched into the room, willing herself to move forward before she fully chickened out. She was a former member of the fuckin' Sound Five, and they'd never backed down from anything. There was _no way_ she'd start now.

"Naruto," she mumbled, cursing herself for not being able to speak clearly. Still, she waited a few seconds for a reply. When he didn't answer, she grit her teeth and took a step closer.

"Naruto." This time, her voice was strong and smooth, causing a brief smile to flicker onto her face. At least she'd gotten a hold of her voice again. To her immense chagrin, though, the boy barely acknowledged her.

"Hm?" he asked, eyes still not leaving the page. Tayuya felt her anger rise. She'd been doing a pretty fuckin' good job of keeping herself in check lately, but Naruto's attitude was really, _really_ starting to piss her the fuck off. Doing her best not to strangle the boy right then and there (And she was well within arm's reach of his neck), she closed her eyes to calm herself before speaking again.

"I have to talk to you about something."

"Mm." The sound of teeth grinding together filled the room, and what sounded like growling emanated from the redhead's throat. Yeah, _now_ she was pissed. Grabbing the scroll from his hands, she threw it behind it with as much force as she could muster. Which was a lot, since the wad off paper crashed into the map hanging above the fireplace and sent it tumbling to the ground, breaking the glass frame of the large picture.

"God fucking damnit, look at me when I'm fuckin' talking to you!" she screamed, gripping his mouth in her hand. The wide, fearful eyes he regarded her with almost quelled her anger; at least until they shifted to the spot above her right shoulder, once again breaking eye contact with her. "Didn't you hear a fuckin' word I said?!" Wincing, Naruto lifted his hand and pointed behind her.

"Oroschimarsu," he slurred. The mention of her former master was enough to grab her attention. She quickly let him go and spun around, her body already shifting into a basic defensive stance -- not that that it would've done any good against someone like him, but no one could ever say she didn't go down without a fight. Her body relaxed as she realized that the snake sannin wasn't in the room; at least not physically.

Lining the wall where the world map had been were dozens of photographs, ranging from the size of a postcard to the size of a full sheet of writing paper. Her intense anger towards Naruto was quickly forgotten as she stared wide-eyed at the pictures, noticing the freakish man in a few of them.

"What do you think these are?" Tayuya asked, awe evident in her voice. The blond blinked at how quickly she'd changed gears; not that he was complaining. He rubbed the now reddened area around his mouth, wincing lightly at the pain the simple action had caused. He'd forgotten exactly how scary the redhead could be if angered enough. Shaking his head lightly, Naruto too turned his eyes back to the pictures.

"I...I don't know, but I think they belong to Juro. Look, that's him right there!" Just as he'd said, Juro, along with two other genin and his jounin sensei, were grinning widely at the camera. They followed the typical format of two boys and one girl, and looking a little closer, Tayuya suddenly recognized the only female in the picture.

"Hey! That's Tsukino! That's the lady I met at the hotel!" The blond lifted his eyebrows.

"Who?"

"You know, the lady at the front desk! The one who was smiling like she knew us and shit when we were in that last town! That's her!" She was shocked that she'd been unable to tell that the woman was a shinobi. Ninja always had this certain air about them; the air of a person who'd seen or done too much in their short lifetime. It was almost like a sixth sense, in a way, and it was nearly impossible to miss -- At least for a shinobi of her caliber.

Her eyes wandered over the various other pictures hanging on the wall. Most of them were of people she didn't know (nor cared to), but a few of them contained very familiar faces; the most noticeable being Orochimaru's. Apparently, he and Juro had been comrades back in the day. Although he didn't smile much in the photos, it was obvious the snake sannin hadn't been opposed to being with his 'friends.' If it weren't for the fact that she knew firsthand how twisted and sick the man was now, she would've easily assumed that he was a normal, well-adjusted human being.

"I can't believe Juro and Ero-Sennin knew each other for so long," Naruto said, staring in awe at a picture of the two men. They couldn't have been more than thirteen in the picture, and both were sporting equally large grins. "But who's this one eyed guy standing behind them?"

"That's Danzo, my jounin-sensei." The teens jumped in surprise at the voice, whirling around to see all three of the adults staring at them. "And one of you owes me for that picture frame; I went through great pains to find one large enough to hide these pictures." Tayuya at least had the decency to look sheepish. Perhaps she had overreacted a bit in her anger towards Naruto. Jiraiya's eyes suddenly lit up as they laid upon the wall of pictures, and he hastily approached it with a small smile.

"This brings back memories! I'd almost forgotten how flat Tsunade was back in the day!" The blond snickered under his breath at the comment. "It's hard to believe how quickly things went downhill during the war. I'm still surprised that Danzo and Tsukino turned out the way they did." Juro nodded his agreement.

"Danzo never has been a very good loser. After Sarutobi beat him out for the position of Hokage, he immediately turned to the dark side. He established ROOT to directly oppose the Sandaime's forces, and recruited us as his right hand men." Naruto tilted his head to the side, shooting the farmer a curious glance.

"What's ROOT?"

"It's basically like a twisted version of the ANBU. Rather than try to protect the village as their main goal, they live only to serve Danzo and his ambitions. It's no surprise you haven't heard of them considering they prefer to hide themselves from the general public," Anko interjected. "They're not above kidnapping civilians and shinobi alike for their needs, and for the most part should never be trusted." Juro nodded and sighed, a forlorn expression appearing on his face.

"Exactly. In the beginning, we existed as a force that strove to be better than the Hokage's ANBU forces for the good of the village. It was our goal to push Danzo into the position of Hokage by showing off how much better we were than the Sandaime. As time passed, however, this goal gradually became more and more ambiguous until we eventually became no better than Orochimaru -- using any means necessary to gain power. It was at that point that I decided to leave."

"But it wasn't that easy; you knew too much about ROOT, and as such, they chased you no matter where you tried to go," Jiraiya said. Juro nodded again.

"Right. Unfortunately for me, Tsukino decided to stay with Danzo and his men, believing that what they were doing wasn't wrong at all. Even worse, her speciality happened to be tracking. It wasn't until Jiraiya and the Fourth helped me seal off this farm that I was able to live peacefully away from my former comrades. Luckily, I haven't seen either of them in years."

"Really?" Tayuya asked, fully turning towards the man. "I just saw Tsukino in the last town we went to." The room went deathly quiet as both Jiraiya and Juro stared at the redhead with unhidden alarm.

"Y-you...what?" the farmer stuttered, eyes going wide in surprise. Confused, the girl cocked her head to the side.

"Well, if that's really your teammate in that picture, then I saw her right before we came here. She washed my hair and said some shit I didn't care about before giving me some of the hotel's shampoo. Are you sure she's as bad as you say? She didn't seem all that evil to me." Instead of answering, the man seemed to disappear as he headed for the stairway, Jiraiya and Anko hot on his heels. Naruto and Tayuya exchanged curious glances before getting up to follow. They quickly bounded the stairs and rushed down the hallway towards the bathroom, peeking into the small room with a small amount of trepidation. "What's going on?" Juro picked up the girl's shampoo bottle and literally ripped it in half, sending specks of the soapy goo everywhere. "Hey! I still had a quarter of a bottle left!" Her protests were quickly silenced when he held up a small slip of paper. Although it was soggy and gooey from the shampoo, the word 'seal' was clearly visible.

"You're being tracked. Tsukino slipped this in the bottle so that she'd be able to find you no matter where you all went. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that she planted additional seals somewhere else in your luggage, although knowing her, she probably never guessed that you'd even be able to find this one." The toad sage's face immediately became serious.

"If that's the case, then it won't be long before they find us. Even if this place is hidden by three intertwined illusions and protected by a number of seals, they'll eventually find a way to get past them as long as they know that we're here."

"Wait, what're you trying to say? If they haven't found us in this long, aren't we safe?" Anko asked, a small feeling of panic beginning to well up inside of her. If a high level ninja like Jiraiya looked worried, there was a good chance that whatever they were up against was quite capable of fucking them up. Juro flew out of the bathroom and out into the hallway.

"There's no telling when they'll get here, so it's better to leave now! Pack your things up as soon as you can; we have to get out of here!" The teens scurried off to their room, following the man's advice and throwing everything they owned into their packs. As she was the neater and more organized of the two, Tayuya managed to finish first and rushed over to help Naruto throw his things together.

"Thanks," he mumbled, shooting her a small smile. She glared back and zipped up his pack, throwing it roughly into his chest.

"Just hurry up." The blond stared after her with a confused frown, watching her lithe figure as she disappeared through the doorway with her pack slung around both shoulders. Now that he thought about it, she'd been angry about something a little earlier. He racked his brain for any reason whatsoever, but couldn't think of anything he'd done that might've to upset her. In fact, he hadn't even talked to her much lately! "Naruto!"

"Coming, geez!" he shouted back, slinging his pack on. He jogged out into the hallway and down the stairs leading to the front door. Everyone else was already waiting by the large slab of wood, scrolls and backpacks hanging off of every available limb.

"It's about time! Come on, this way!" He led them outside of the house into the night, using a lantern to light their path. Anko followed directly behind him, and Jiraiya brought up the rear just in case of a surprise attack.

"I still don't understand what's going on," Anko muttered as she walked behind the man. "Why are we escaping? Isn't this place sealed off somewhere?" Jiraiya let loose a tired sigh.

"Somewhat. To tell you the truth, we're not where you think we are." Tayuya glanced back to look at the older man.

"What the fuck's that supposed to mean?"

"It's a bit hard to explain. While we're still in the Fire Country, we're not nearly as close to Konoha as it seems. The seal I activated when we first arrived instantly transported us across the entire country to Juro's farm, but also kept us in the same place." By now, both teens _and_ Anko's heads were swimming.

"Neh, Ero-sennin, have you finally gone crazy? How can we be in two places at once?"

"That's why I said it was hard to explain, brat! This farm's actual location is closer to the Earth Country, but the area it's sealed in is located near the Wave Country." Anko slowly nodded her head, beginning to understand what he was saying.

"Basically, this area overlaps the area we came in at." The sannin let loose a relieved sigh.

"Finally, someone gets it! Now, here's where things get a little trickier. Although Tsukino knows where the seals' location is, she can't use it to teleport directly here. However, she _can _break and dissect them to find out where we actually are. These seals are no pushovers though -- they were made by the same man who managed to seal the most powerful of the nine bijuu into an infant. Even someone as skilled as she would need a couple of months to take apart and decipher all three of the security seals; not to mention the travel time to get from there to here." Tayuya blinked a few times to process the information. If her head was hurting from all of that, she hated to imagine how Naruto felt.

"So? Where are we going now?" The redhead asked, turning forward once again. Juro glanced at them from over his shoulder.

"To the exit. The Fourth placed an emergency escape seal somewhere around here just in case something like this happened. It'll teleport us close to where you all were before you arrived here." The teenager blinked again, feeling her respect for the former Hokage rise a bit.

"Huh. Smart motherfucker." Jiraiya grinned widely at the comment, raising his chin a little in pride.

"Of course. Who do you think trained him? I taught him everything he--" The sannin suddenly stopped in his tracks, narrowing his eyes as he examined their surroundings. "Juro."

"Yeah." Both genin immediately froze in their tracks, unconsciously moving closer together. Even if they weren't told, they immediately knew what was going on. "Come out. We know you're there." For a few seconds, nothing happened. Suddenly, the bushes to the left of them rustled noisily, and thinking quickly, the group instantly hit the ground to avoid a particularly sharp windmill shuriken.

"Not bad. I was sure I'd at least get the kids." They all raised their eyes and looked up into the tree in front of them, glaring at the smugly smiling woman sitting cross-legged on a tree branch. "Why the sore looks? It was just a little greeting." Juro was the first to stand up, mouth tightened into a grim line and eyes hardened with anger.

"You haven't changed a bit, Tsukino." Her smile widened considerably at his words, and she coyly flipped her long black hair over her shoulder.

"The same could be said for you, Juro-_kun_. I don't suppose you'd want to give up and come quietly, hm?" Before he could answer, Tayuya snorted and stood to her feet, brushing off her shorts nonchalantly.

"Took the words right out of my fuckin' mouth. I don't usually like to fuck with the elderly, but in your case, I'll make an exception." All present could literally see an anger mark appear on the woman's head, and her smile noticeably became more forced.

"Is that how you talk to the person who so graciously washed your hair for you? You _should_ be thanking me." The redhead choked back a laugh.

"Thanking you for what? leaving your dead skin cells in my gorgeous hair? I swear, you old motherfuckers shed skin like snakes." Righteously angered, Tsukino stood to her feet and intensified her glare. She lifted a hand into the air, and not even a second later, four ROOT officers appeared at her sides.

"I have better things to do than squabble with an ungrateful brat. You know the mission; kill everyone except for Juro, the demon, and the demon's bitch." Juro cursed under his breath and turned to the others, hands already reaching inside two of his many large weapons pouches. Everyone else immediately dropped the luggage they were carrying and assumed basic defensive stances.

"I'll take Tsukino on myself. If Jiraiya can take on two guys, Anko one, and the kids take on one together, we just might be able to get out of this alive." They all glanced at each other and nodded, all of them sporting equally grim expressions. Jiraiya looked over his shoulder at the teen, a small grin resting upon his face.

"Since we've been discovered here, I guess it's safe to say that this phase of training is over. Feel free to use any and all jutsus at your disposal. However, if you find that you can't win, just try to stay alive long enough for one of us to help you." If it weren't for the situation, Naruto would've jumped for joy. Instead, he immediately placed his fingers in the familiar cross sign as the others split up and dashed in different directions, intent on defeating their opponents without anyone getting hurt.

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**!" To his surprise, forty clones popped into the clearing. It had been his intention to only make ten, but he shrugged and commanded his dopplegangers to attack the lone enemy standing in front of him. The more the merrier. However, the ROOT officer just shook his head in mirth, assuming a loose taijutsu stance as the sea of blond approached. He'd heard all about how Naruto just spammed that one jutsu over and over, and how much he sucked at basic hand to hand combat. Dispersing the bunshins would be nothing more than a warm up to him.

As the first clone approached, his smirk widened as he thought about how easy this would be. According to reports from other ROOT operatives, Naruto's main battle plan was to charge in headfirst and attack. So far, things seemed to be going according to plan.

"**Doton: Retsudotensho**!" Tayuya yelled out, slamming her hands onto the ground. The man's eyes widened as the area below him immediately began to sink, and glancing down at his feet, he saw that he was steadily being sucked into a small sinkhole. Unfortunately, that was the least of his worries.

He looked up in surprise as forty male genin descended upon him, each of them holding a glowing blue kunai -- a strange sight, since he certainly hadn't heard about the boy knowing any jutsus other than the Kage Bunshin and Legendary Rasengan. Thinking quickly, the man formed a few handseals and spread his legs as wide as he could in the thick dirt.

"**Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu**!" Immediately, the officer was surrounded in flames, turning the dirt and sand below him into glass. He then slammed his palm into the frail material to break it and dodged to the side, just barely missing Naruto's attack. Still, he couldn't dodge it completely; a deep gash opened on his cheek, sending blood dripping down the side of his face. He was extremely surprised that they'd been able to trap him without him noticing, and even more surprised that the boy had actually managed to wound him. Frowning deeply, he began to form a long set of seals. It was time to get serious.

"Damnit," Naruto cursed, gritting his teeth in disappointment. He'd used the technique Juro had taught them to extend the blade of his kunai, but it hadn't been long enough to pierce all the way into his enemy's skull. He looked around at the surrounding area carefully, trying to come up with some sort of plan to once again trap their opponent. Tayuya was nowhere to be found, but knowing her, she was probably setting up something huge in the background. For the time being, he decided to pull his shadow clones together and wait to see what she would do.

Things with Anko weren't going nearly as well. She'd been unlucky enough to get the captain of the squad, and was currently doing her best to dodge the sword strikes the man was trying to hit her with. She was a bit out of practice since she'd only been training with Naruto and Tayuya, but refused to use that as an excuse for losing. Jumping back as far as she could, she formed a short set of seals and threw her arms out in front of her.

"**Senai Jashuu!**" Not even a second later, multiple snakes shot out of the sleeves of her trenchcoat and wrapped around the torso of the enemy shinobi. Surprisingly, her target erupted into a puff of smoke, leaving behind a misshapen log. She cursed under her breath and jumped to the side, just barely missing the hail of kunai her enemy had thrown at her.

"Is this the best Orochimaru's former play toy can do? It's no wonder he threw you away as soon as he got the chance," the man taunted, face twisted into a sneer. A feral grin appeared on Anko's face as the snakes disappeared into her sleeves. Trying to taunt her using Orochimaru wouldn't work; she wasn't some genin fresh out of the Academy, after all. Instead, she widened her eyes as far as they would go and forced chakra into the air around her to perform the kanashibari no jutsu. Although it wouldn't be as effective against a battle hardened shinobi, it still gave her one or two seconds to proceed with her attack.

Moving as quickly as she could, she teleported directly in front of him and launched a powerful knee into his chin. Before he could react to the blow, she spun around and used the heel of that same leg to roundhouse him quite powerfully in the jaw. As he flew, she kneeled down to build more power to her legs.

"Not yet," she ground out through grit teeth. Flipping into the air, she twirled gracefully through the sky, fully intending to stomp his head into the ground and kill him. However, she didn't count on the man being able to move in mid-air. Her eyes widened as he launched a kunai tied to a piece of rope towards an adjacent tree, using it to maneuver himself just out of her way. He easily flipped and landed a few yards away, smirking arrogantly at her while wiping a small bit of blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Weak. If that's all you can do, this will be a very short battle." Anko matched his smirk with a crooked one of his own, digging her hands into the deep pockets of her coat. Now that she'd lowered his guard a bit, she could break out the real techniques.

"Oh? Come on, then." Before moving, she shifted her eyes to check on Jiraiya. He was fighting two ANBU level shinobi, and unlike she and the kids, there was a very small chance that he'd be underestimated. She shook her head and looked forward. She didn't have time to worry about him; she needed to concentrate on her own fight.

Just as she'd predicted, the two ROOT officers were going all out against the Toad Sage. They launched jutsu after jutsu at the man, but annoyingly, he either countered or dodged each of their attacks. The worst part was, it seemed as though he wasn't even trying.

"How boring. If I'd known you two would be this bad, I'd have taken on all four of you by myself." With that, his hands flew through a set of seals, and taking a deep breath of air, he launched a huge fireball towards his opponents. The two of them just managed to dodge, escaping with only the edges of their black cloaks singed.

"As expected, Jiraiya-sama is truly fearsome," one of the men panted through grit teeth. Sweat was literally pouring off of his face, and there were various spots of dirt on his clothing. The second man nodded his agreement, placing his hands together to form seals.

"Yes, it looks like we'll have to go all out.** Futon: Daitoppa**!" He took a large breath of air and blew it out in Jiraiya's direction, sending the older man flying into the treetops. The two officers exchanged victorious grins before jumping in to the trees to finish the job. They were only idly aware of the battle raging a few dozen feet away.

Tsukino easily tilted her head to the side, perfectly avoiding a couple of sloppily thrown kunai. Dodging his attacks were incredibly easy, and she lightheartedly wondered if she had gotten better or if he'd gotten worse. Granted, Juro had never had the best aim, but this was getting ridiculous.

"Come now, Juro-kun, has it really been that long since you've trained? You're breathing hard already!" True to her words, the man was leaning heavily on his knees, taking deep gasps of breath in an attempt to steady his heart. He'd thrown dozens of kunai at her, but she'd dodged and danced around every single one of them -- not that he didn't expect that to happen since he hadn't trained in awhile. Strangely, she barely tried to attack him back, opting to toss a few of his own kunai back at him rather than use her own. He frowned and reached into his pouches for more weapons.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you fighting? The woman laughed loudly, throwing her head back in an exaggerated fashion.

"Why should I? Those kids could probably put up a better fight than you are right now. If you don't do something good soon, I just may fall asleep standing up. To be honest, it feels like I'm fighting Takeshi all over again." Juro grit his teeth in anger as she brought up their deceased teammate. Shortly after the three of them had formed ROOT along with their jounin-sensei, he'd been sent on a mission to gather information about the Stone Country's battle plans.

While he had been able to gather and deliver the information to Danzo, he'd died not even a day after from the extensive wounds he'd received from the enemy. Juro had never quite forgiven his teacher for sending Takeshi when he or Tsukino would have been a much better choice, and he'd been outraged when the man had called it a 'necessary sacrifice.' It was just one of many reasons why he'd left the organization.

"Takeshi has nothing to do with this. Don't bring up his name and allow him to rest in peace." The woman shrugged lightly, boredly digging into her ear with her pinky finger.

"Whatever, he was a loser anyway." Before the last word left her lips, a kunai whizzed by face, barely giving her enough time to move her head out of the way. "There you go! Now you're getting serious! Come, Juro-kun, show me how much you've grown!"

A short distance away, Anko and her opponent were engaged in a fierce taijutsu battle. They exchanged kicks and punches at a speed barely viewable by the naked eye, and both were becoming equally bruised by each others' blows. After receiving an especially hard punch to her jaw, Anko jumped back for a moment to regroup.

The scrolls in her pocket were partially unsealed and ready to go; all she needed to do was find some way to get him incapacitated long enough for her to use them. Her eyes wandered over the surrounding area for something -- anything -- she could use to slow him down. As she was thinking, however, she missed the shadow clone that had managed to sneak up behind her. The doppleganger whacked her hard in the back of the neck, attempting to knock her out with one blow. Her vision became hazy for a few seconds before she fell to the ground unconscious, banging her head especially hard against the rough dirt and rocks in the area.

"Almost too easy," the man grinned, walking up to her with the intent to finish her off. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), she had fallen in a way that fully exposed her fishnet encased breasts to his hungry eyes. He instantly felt a small amount of lust begin to build in his system. Now that he thought about it, it'd been awhile since he had been with a woman. It would be a real shame to kill her without having a little fun first. Grinning pervertedly, he kneeled down next to her and placed his hands on her breasts, reveling in the warmth and softness he felt even through the thin fishnet material.

He slowly kneaded her breasts with a wide smile, thanking all that was good and holy for his luck. Millions of men (and a few women) would _love_ to be in his position right now. Sure that she was knocked out, he dropped a hand to her thighs and slipped it under her skirt, widening his grin at the intense heat coming from her lower region. He then used his other hand to quickly unfasten the buttons on his pants and pulled them halfway down his legs. This would be fun. To his surprise, the unconscious woman squeezed her thighs together and trapped his hand between them, preventing him from jumping away.

"W-what the hell?!" the man exclaimed with wide eyes, mouth dropping open as he viewed her forehead protector heading straight for his own face. She head butted him three times in the nose, ripping a cry of pain from his throat. As he fell backwards, she pushed herself on top of him and used her body to hold him down, panting deeply with effort. After nearly losing consciousness only a few minutes before, it was a bit hard to get herself moving again. Reaching her hands into her pockets, she pulled out the scrolls she'd prepared earlier and slammed them as hard as she could into his chest, evoking another pained shout from his mouth.

"**Jigoku no Chein**," she said, forcing chakra into the rolled up pieces of paper. They erupted into twin puffs of smoke, and a second later, pitch black chains shot straight up into the air and began to wrap around the restrained man. She jumped back just in time to avoid being roped in with him, and grinning sadistically, watched as the metal ropes continued to spin and twist around his form.

The chains of hell were, literally, chains from hell -- or at least a place like it. Since they were freshly summoned, the black ropes were still scorching hot from the heat of hell, and she reveled in the screams of pain that resounded from his throat. She knew first hand how much they hurt; she'd _accidentally_ touched them once while training, and still had the burn marks to prove it. Thick smoke began to rise from his skin, and deep red welts appeared all over the surface of his body.

"STOP! PLEASE! I'LL DO ANYTHING! JUST STOP!" he screamed, writhing and twisting along the ground. His cries of pain only amused her further, but deciding to put him out of his misery (fuck, she'd gotten soft), she pulled a kunai from a pocket in her trench coat and twirled it languidly on one finger. Although she was trying not to show it, she was running more than a little low on chakra. Summoning the chains of hell took a shitload out of her, and even if she was fresh she'd have less than a quarter left. It'd be better if she ended it as soon as possible.

"Rest in peace." With that, she casually flipped the kunai directly into his open mouth, killing the man almost instantly. Shortly thereafter, the summoned ropes disappeared into a puff of smoke. Sighing loudly, she stretched her arms and turned in the direction she believed her students to be. "Now then, on to help --" Before she could even finish speaking, her body locked up on her, sending her falling to the ground for the second time that evening. Apparently, she had been much more tired than she originally thought. "Or, I could just lie here for awhile. That's a good idea too."

**ooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

"Do you see him?" the ROOT operative asked, eyes scanning the trees as they sped among them. His partner shook his head.

"Not yet. I'm sure he landed somewhere around he--GAH!" Out of nowhere, a human-sized toad stuck out his arm and clothes hung the shinobi, sending him falling to the ground below.

"Nice one! I didn't think you'd actually manage to get him with such a simple move." The toad croaked out something unintelligible, earning a laugh from the sannin. "Yeah, you're right. They are pretty bad, even by ROOT's standards." The other operative jumped to the ground to check on his partner before glaring up at Jiraiya with a hateful stare. He placed his hands together and formed a set of seals, taking a deep breath as he neared the end of the sequence.

"**Futon: Daitoppa**!" he yelled, shooting another wave of air at the older man. To his morbid surprise, the frog poofed out of existence but Jiraiya only shook his head in mirth, closing his eyes in obvious disappointment.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice and you're doing pretty well."

"But, how--" The sannin pointed to his feet.

"Chakra. Now then, I believe it's my turn." The man barely had a chance to react as the sannin appeared directly behind him with a bright blue glowing ball in his hand. "**Rasengan**!" Luckily for him, he just managed to hop out of the way with his partner in tow. Unluckily, his partner's forearm was caught by the jutsu, leaving a very pronounced gash running lengthwise along his arm.

"Agh!" he shouted, eyes squinching shut in pain. Just as he'd heard numerous times from higher ranking members of ROOT, the Rasengan was something to be feared; even if it so much as grazed you. He motioned for his teammate to put him down and turned to face the sannin. "You'll pay for that!" Thankfully, the swirling ball of chakra had hit his left arm, so he used his remaining good arm to reach into his kunai pouch and throw five perfectly aimed projectiles at Jiraiya's head.

"What? Is that it? I'm insulted," he pouted, watching the weapons approach. However, the grin that appeared on the injured man's face instantly put him edge.

"**Shuriken Kage Bunshin no jutsu**!" The amount of shuriken instantly multiplied to sixty, and just as he was about to dodge, the other ROOT officer appeared behind to him, kunai read to strike. What he didn't count on was Jiraiya having time to perform a quick set of seals as a defensive measure.

"**Hari Jizo**!" The officer let out a yell as his hand made contact with the many spikes protruding from the sannin's form. The shuriken too were deflected by the defense, flying off in a multitude of different as they clanged harmlessly against Jiraiya's hardened mane. "Now the both of you have lost the use of one of your limbs. Aren't you glad?" Jiraiya smirked, returning his hair to its original state. Rather than the man becoming angered like he'd expected, he laughed under his breath, one hand raised in the customary sign for building chakra.

"Of course I am. You fell right into my trap. **Ninpou: ketsueki inshou!**" The sannin's eyes widened in surprise as the man yelled out the words. He thought it had been too easy to injure him, and now he understood why. Using his own blood, the man now had the ability to track and teleport himself directly to Jiraiya's position no matter where he tried to go.

"Damnit," he cursed, flashing through seals as quickly as he could. Before he could finish, however, the enemy ninja punched him quite powerfully in the jaw, sending him sprawling back first into a nearby tree. Just as he'd thought, it would be tough to get away from the man long enough to wash the blood from his hair. He cursed again and reached into the pouch of his vest for something.

"Too slow!" The man laughed, appearing directly in front of the sannin with a kunai in hand. Jiraiya just barely managed to pull the kunai from its slot and parry the incoming blow, making it so that the blade of the kunai just barely scratched his cheek. The ROOT officer scowled and jumped back to gain some distance "Not bad. A normal shinobi would be dead by now. This jutsu is a technique that is impossible to avoid. Even if you somehow are able to dodge a few of my attacks, in the end, you will die." To illustrate this point, he teleported himself next to the older man and attempted to bring a kunai down right between his eyes.

"You're the one that's too slow." The man's eyes widened when Jiraiya easily knocked the kunai out of his hand and punched him painfully in the stomach. However, he'd forgotten about the other (albeit heavily injured) shinobi in the clearing.

"Die!" he yelled, throwing multiple kunai in their direction. The sannin winced and jumped to his left, catching a stray kunai in his forearm. It was careless of him to concentrate on only one guy at a time. He reached into his vest and produced a multitude of kunai, spinning in midair to throw them all at the two ROOT officers. As he predicted, the men easily dodged the projectiles. Lifting his right hand into the release sign, he forced chakra from his body and out into the surrounding area.

**"Katsu!**" A second later, the kunai all exploded at once, sending smoke and debri everywhere.

"Did you really think that would work?" one of the men asked, appearing directly beside him again. He kicked Jiraiya as hard as he could, sending him flying back into the treetops. He teleported himself behind the older man and dug his hill into his gut -- only for his target to erupt into a puff of smoke. "Shit, kage bunshin. No matter; he can't hide from me." At that moment, something wet hit him on top of the head. He glanced to the sky to see that it was beginning to drizzle. "Rain?"

"That's right. I wasn't intending to hit you with those exploding tags, though it would have made things easier for me if they had." The ninja's face immediately showed understanding and a small amount of respect.

"You knew the smoke would rise into the clouds and cause it to rain so that you could wash away the blood I left in your hair. As expected of a legendary sannin." Jiraiya smirked and shook his head, forming seals as he did so.

"But that's not at all. Now that I have enough water available, I can get on with the real plan. **Sensatsu Suisho**." Both officers froze in fear as most of the rain drops around them formed into sharp needles and pointed in their direction. It was over. Even if they tried to shield themselves from the frozen projectiles, there was an infinite amount of rain pouring down from the sky. He could easily create more as long as he had chakra and water, and realizing this fact, the more vocal of the two officers turned wild eyes upon his opponent.

"Danzo-sama will avenge us in the end! We live for his purposes! The demon will d--" Before he could finish his sentence, thousands of needles impaled he and his teammate from head to toe. Letting loose a small breath of air, the older man walked over to make sure that they were truly dead.

"Poor souls," he muttered, satisfied when he didn't feel a pulse. "Puppets until the very end."

**oooooooooooooooooooooo**

Thirty shadow clones erupted in a puff of smoke as a huge ball of fire ripped through them. Naruto cursed under his breath, a thin sheen of sweat appearing on his forehead from the intense flames of the man's jutsu. That had been close; had he been just a foot closer to the middle of the group, he would've ended up just like his dopplegangers.

"Don't think you can win just because you got a lucky hit, demon," the officer sneered, glaring degradingly at the blond. No sooner had the words left his mouth did a hail of kunai rain from the sky, heading directly in his direction. Amazingly, the man somehow managed to miss all but one of the many projectiles, and he let loose a grunt of pain as the weapon slid into the flesh of his thigh. Turning his glare to the treetops, he easily ripped the knife from his leg. "What's wrong? Upset because I'm talking about your boyfriend?"

A few dozen yards away, Tayuya clenched her fist in an effort to remain calm. Every bone in her body was begging her to jump down there and strangle him before dragging his half dead carcass through a pit of angry fire ants, but that would unfortunately ruin the plan she had set up to take him down. Phase one had been completed; now, she had to hope that Naruto could do his part. She raised two fingers to her lips and blew as loudly as she could, her face turning slightly pink with exertion.

"The signal..." the genin mumbled, recognizing his partner's whistle. Besides training the things they'd learned from their teachers, Naruto and Tayuya had also spent their nights coming up with simple battle plans in case of an emergency. It had initially been the redhead's way of expanding his understanding of basic attack principles, but after only a few weeks of teaching him the ground level stuff, the blond had come up with his own ideas and strategies. The most amazing part was that they were actually _good_.

The genin put his hands into the cross shape again and attempted to make ten more clones -- only for twenty to pop out instead. Although it was closer than the last time, he still was a bit miffed that he didn't have complete control over exactly how many clones he wanted. Despite his disgruntlement, he gave the mental command for them all to attack. They rushed the man from his left and front, each of them brandishing a freshly sharpened kunai.

"That again?" he chuckled, staring almost disbelievingly at Naruto. He jumped backwards with a smirk, ready to take on the mob single handedly. Unfortunately, he didn't expect to suddenly get caught in a web near invisible wires. "W-what the hell?!" His eyes followed the wires to the cluster of kunai the redhead had thrown before, and he immediately understood. While the blond provided the distraction, the other bitch controlled the strings from a distance, effectively stopping him from both attacking and defending. A good plan -- if it was executed on a regular shinobi.

Channeling chakra into his arm and grinning evily, he easily ripped his left arm free of her grasp, hearing a thump and a yelp of pain from somewhere in the distance. If he'd guessed correctly, the girl had just been pulled out of the tree she was standing in. This simple action not only freed him from their trap, but it also told him her general location. Moving as quickly as he could, he detangled himself from the thin wires and teleported in the direction he'd heard the cry, intent on finishing her off before she came up with any more brilliant ideas. Sensing his intentions, Naruto chased after him, feeling a small bit of panic begin to rise within his chest.

Barely an eighth of a mile away, Tayuya was just picking herself up off the ground. She'd landed quite roughly on her back, and her arm was a little sore after being nearly dislocated by the abnormally strong tug. Wincing lightly, she hoisted herself onto her feet and moved her arm in a wide arc, trying to get some movement going before the joint got stiff from the pain.

"That cocksucking son of a bitch," she mumbled, gritting her teeth at the intense pain emanating from her shoulder. Apparently, she'd underestimated him a bit. She'd originally thought they could finish him off without wasting too much chakra, but that idea had gone out the window two seconds before she'd hit the ground. Reaching into her pouch, she produced the flute that Naruto had bought her a few months before and lifted it to her lips -- only to be viciously backhanded across the face. She spiraled awkwardly into an adjacent tree, eyes going in and out of focus from the blow.

"Tayuya-chan!" a chorus of blonds yelled from somewhere within the trees. "He's coming your way!" If her world wasn't spinning out of control at that moment, she would've rolled her eyes and sighed at his late warning. It shocked her that the ROOT officer had gotten so close without her noticing, but she really didn't have to worry about that at the moment. Right now, she needed to get away long enough to regroup. She shook her head wildly to clear her mind and rolled to her left, just barely avoiding being impaled by a rain of kunai.

"Not bad, bitch. Looks like you can do something without the demon after all." Tayuya felt a snarl build up in her throat. Although she'd wanted to maim or kill hundreds of the people she'd come across in her short fourteen years of living, she was certain that she'd never felt more hatred towards any one person in her entire life. Her animal instincts were begging her to jump on him and rip his throat out with her teeth, but thinking logically, she realized that such a straightforward attack would only give him an easy target.

"You're not so bad yourself," she said, attempting to buy enough time to come up with a plan, "It must take a lot of fuckin' training to beat up on a fourteen year old girl. I bet your mother would love to see how great of a shinobi you've come." Despite the situation, Tayuya felt like laughing at the enraged expression that appeared on his face. There was something extremely satisfying about hitting a nerve on the first try -- at least until he slammed a kunai into her already injured shoulder.

She squeezed one eye shut to keep from crying out again in pain and shot him another smug grin, discreetly reaching a few fingers into her weapons pouch. "Wow, what a fuckin' man. I bet your one inch cock got hard just now, didn't it? You get off on fucking around with kids since they're the only ones you can beat without getting your ass kicked." Predictably, the man's glare hardened as he raised another kunai into the air with barely controlled rage, deciding to end her life despite the orders he'd been given prior.

As the knife descended, the redhead quickly threw a smoke bomb right in his face and rolled out of the way, holding onto her bleeding shoulder as she ran. For now, she needed to regroup and tend to her injury before she could worry about how she would take him out. As she escaped, she saw a mob of blond hair rushing in her direction and nearly sighed in relief. Even though he was horribly late, they could now come up with a new plan to take the officer down. Her relief turned into panic when she saw the expression on Naruto's face.

Although she'd seen him become possessed by the Kyuubi before, she still wasn't quite used to it. His blood red eyes shifted from her shoulder to her eyes, causing her heart to jump into her throat. She knew what he was thinking, and despite wanting the man to die a horrible and bloody death, she didn't want it to happen like this. A tail slowly began to grow from his backside, and she instantly knew what would happen next. She winced as a slow burning began to erupt in her stomach, and fighting through the pain, she smiled uneasily at Naruto.

"N-Naruto, calm down, it's not that big of a deal. See?" She shrugged the shoulder slightly in an attempt to calm him, but she didn't count on a whimper of pain escaping from her lips. Before she could say another word, the demon possessed blond shot off in the direction she'd just come from, a mob of equally angry clones hot on his heels. "Shit," she cursed, rushing after them in an attempt to stop him. She knew he didn't like using the Kyuubi's power; she could see it on his face every time he and Jiraiya trained together.

And, even worse than using the power, she knew he hated killing with it. She hadn't noticed it when he'd first saved her from the Sound-nin, but now that she knew him better, it was blatantly obvious that that event still weighed heavily on his mind. It was getting to the point where she was starting to feel guilty for needing his help, and now that she knew it bothered him, she didn't want him to have to go through that pain ever again; especially not for her sake. A loud explosion from the clearing forced her to speed up her pace as she hoped that it wasn't too late.

"Naruto! Stop!" she yelled, already fearing the worst. Her fears were realized when she saw the mess that was made of the area. In barely two minutes, the blond had leveled a dozen trees, blown a huge crater in the ground, and worst of all, literally ripped the ROOT officer in half. She turned her head away from carnage, feeling sick to her stomach at the man's entrails and blood spread about on the grass. Not because of the actual sight; no, she'd seen this exact thing dozens of times since she'd joined Orochimaru. She felt sick because it was because Naruto was the one who had done it.

After gaining a grip on herself, she slowly turned her head to take in the scene for the second time. Only a few clones remained along with original, telling her that the man had put up a decent fight against the Kyuubi-possessed blond. the red cloak of chakra was just beginning to dissipate, so she slowly made her way over to her still enraged teammate.

"It's over," she whispered, slowing her pace as she neared him. He turned his wild, red eyes upon her, still obviously influenced by the evil chakra. Biting back her fear, she moved closer to him and rested a hesitant hand on his shoulder, literally feeling the tension pouring off of his body. "Calm down. He's dead." She marveled at how quickly her words worked on him as his eyes slowly changed from blood red to dark blue. The few clones that were left poofed out of existence, leaving just the two of them alone in the clearing. He lowered his eyes towards the ground, staring at his feet in what looked like shame.

"Tayuya-chan...I..." She used her good hand to turn his face back to hers and shook her head, grinning awkwardly to keep him from feeling even worse about what he'd done.

"It's alright. It's alright as long as you use it to protect someone else, so don't feel like you've done something wrong." He wrenched his head from her grip and turned his gaze back towards the ground, face balling up in anger.

"It's not okay! I couldn't protect you! I made a promise to myself that I'd get strong enough to protect my precious people, but I failed! No matter how hard I train or study, I still can't do anything!" Tayuya blinked in surprise. Is that why he had been ignoring her? So that he could protect her? Now that she thought about it, it did seem like the kind of stupid idea he would come up with. The blond sunk to his knees and clenched his eyes shut to hold in his tears.

The way he was feeling right now was equal to the pain he'd felt when he realized that he failed to bring Sasuke back to the village. It was a feeling of hopelessness, despair, and weakness all wrapped up into one, and it was also a feeling he never wanted to feel again. He couldn't even imagine what he would have done had the man actually killed Tayuya, and to be honest, he didn't want to. She was the closest thing to him right now, and losing her would be like losing a part of his soul.

Sensing his distress, Tayuya knelt down beside him and wrapped her good arm around his shoulders to comfort him, lightly leaning her head on top of his. She didn't really know what to say; she wasn't really the comforting type, and she preferred to use actions over words.

So, for the time being, she awkwardly embraced him in the destroyed wooded area, grateful for the sudden rain that hid his tears from view.

**oooooooooooooooooooooo**

"Things seem to be heating up, eh, Juro-kun?" Tsukino mocked, sidestepping another kunai thrown by her former teammate. "Why don't you all just give up while you still have the chance? Even if you all beat them, none of you will have the chakra left to beat me. If it goes on like this, the kids might end up being killed too. You don't want that, do you?" At that moment, he suddenly understood why she hadn't really attacked him.

She was saving the majority of the chakra for finishing the job when Jiraiya and the others killed off the ROOT officers. It was just like Tsukino to come up with such a gruesome plan, sacrificing her own troupe in favor of the mission. The man cursed and threw another kunai in her direction, wincing when she caught the projectile between her fingers and casually tossed it over her shoulder. There were nearly a hundred kunai littering the field -- all of them weapons he'd thrown.

"Why are you still serving someone like Danzo?! You know what he's like. He'll sacrifice any and everyone for his goals. Do you want to be used as a puppet for the rest of your life?!" The woman chuckled under her breath, shaking her head as she did so.

"Well, if the pot isn't calling the kettle black! What about yourself? Why are you helping the very same demon who killed your entire family in one fell swoop? Didn't you hate that demon for taking away everyone you cared about?" A somber, serious look appeared on Juro's face, briefly throwing his opponent off guard.

"Yeah, I hated him. If I'd had half a chance, I would've snapped his neck while he was still in diapers."

"So come back! Rejoin Danzo and I on our quest to rid the world of evils such as the Kyuubi!" she reasoned, taking a step in his direction. To her chagrin, the man shook only his head, laughing a little to himself as he faced her with a sad smile.

"I can't do that; Naruto is not the Kyuubi. I realized that fact years ago." A confused frown appeared on Tsukino's face as she took another step forward.

"What are you talking about? You're not making sense! The entire village knows that he's been possessed by the fox!"

"Then the entire village is wrong."

"What?!"

"A little while before I left ROOT, I realized something; the Fourth wasn't the kind of guy to seal a demon into a random kid -- orphan or not." When her eyes widened, his grim smile lessened a bit. "I see you've realized it. Even though all the reports say that his son died in the attack, the truth is that he used his own son as the container of the Kyuubi. Hell, just look at the boy! He's becoming the spitting image of him! Would a father, especially Arashi, allow his own child to be possessed? Even for the sake of the entire village?" As much as she wanted to argue, Tsukino found that the words wouldn't come.

Had she become so wrapped up in her hatred for the boy that she'd been unable to see the obvious? That Naruto had the same blond hair and blue eyes as the former Hokage? That he had that same annoyingly cheerful disposition as his father? She grit her teeth in anger. It was impossible. She wouldn't allow herself to be fooled by his words.

"You're lying! It's possessed you too! That demon's fooled everyone! Everyone except Danzo-sama! He knows the truth! Don't you understand? If he becomes the Hokage, everything will be as it should be! Then, maybe we could...try again." Juro stared at her in shock.

"You don't mean you...still..." She averted her gaze and scowled, balling her fists at her sides.

"Of course I do! Even if I hate one part of you for abandoning me in favor of the Kyuubi, I can't hate all of you. As annoying as it is, I still love you." She turned to him again, eyes resolute and hopeful. "So come back! Even Danzo-sama says that you'll be welcome amongst our ranks! We can be together again once the demon is gone for good!" A sorrowful, forlorn expression appeared on his face as he looked her in the eyes, grinning again in sadness.

"We're just like them, Naruto and Tayuya. Two stubborn brats who annoy each other constantly, but neither of us can leave the other one alone." He slowly walked in her direction, smile slipping with each step. Tsukino's body tensed up in surprise as he enveloped her in a tight hug, but she eventually relaxed and closed her eyes tightly, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat.

"Don't compare us to that demon and his bitch. We're nothing like them." Juro chuckled and placed his hands together, forming seals behind her back.

"I suppose you're right. In all actuality, _they're_ like _us_." The woman grunted her displeasure at still being compared to the teens, but didn't argue. She was just happy to be held by him again. Her eyes widened as he whispered the next sentence directly into her ear. "That's why, I hope they can be like us until the end; able to die together in each other's arms." She tried to push him away, but it was too late. "**Bakuhatsuteki jisatsu**." Suddenly, the kunai scattered around them made sense. She _thought_ his aim had been much more pathetic than usual, but had passed it off as rust from farming rather than training.

Each kunai he'd thrown had been wrapped in an explosive tag and then henged to make it look like a normal kunai. It was quite a feat to hold the illusion for so long considering the dozens of weapons left in the small clearing, and now that she thought about it, it was just like him to use a trick like that to defeat her; however, she hadn't suspected anything since she didn't think that he'd kill himself along with her.

_'Oh well,' _she thought, closing her eyes and hugging him tighter as they were engulfed in flames,_ 'All things considered, this is a pretty nice way to die.'_

**AN: Wrote and rewrote this three times and I'm still unsatisfied. Fuck. Almost two months. No proofreading since I'm pretty much sick of looking at this chapter.**

**Jutsu List:**

**Doton: Retsudotensho -- Earth Element: Split Earth Turn Around Palm**

**Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu -- Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique**

**Senai Jashuu -- Hidden Snake Hands**

**Futon: Daitoppa -- Wind Release: Great Breakthrough**

**Jogoku no Chein -- Chains of Hell**

**Hari Jizo -- Needle Guardian**

**Ninpou: ketsueki inshou -- Ninja Technique: Blood Seal**

**Sensatsu Suisho -- Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death**

**Bakuhatsuteki Jisatsu -- Explosive Suicide**


	22. Chapter 22

**The Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 22**

The steady raindrops splashed against the ground, creating a smooth rhythm around them in the destroyed forest. Tayuya loved the rain; she loved the gentle pitter-patter of the liquid as it made ferocious contact with the the grass, and she also loved the feeling of the tiny raindrops splashing against her hair and face. Most of all, though, she loved how the rain covered everything in a fine sheen of fog and moisture, seemingly washing away the fears and trials of battles fought not so long ago.

Even though her arm hurt like shit and her legs were beginning to fall asleep, she felt at ease. It was all over now. They'd go back the farmhouse, recoup, and eventually start training once again. The sound of footsteps running in their direction immediately put her on edge, but the voice that called out to them sent a flood of relief throughout her body.

"Oi, chibis, you alright?!" Anko asked, sprinting in their direction. Tayuya lifted her head long enough to nod, pushing herself a foot or so away from Naruto. He looked fine now, so there really was no point in comforting him any longer. She used her free arm to hold up her injured one, wincing lightly at the pain that shot through her as she touched the wound.

"Yeah, we're okay. What about you? Looks like someone punched the shit out of your jaw."

"At least I didn't get stabbed."

"Good point." Both females glared at each other with a small smirk, each of them thinking about equally disturbing and violent things they could do to the other. Realizing that she was the adult in this situation, the jounin shook her head and walked over to the dead ROOT officer. She pulled a kunai from one of her pockets and sliced the man's shirt off of his severed body, cutting the garment into a long, thick piece of cloth.

"You don't mind wearing this, do you?" she asked Tayuya, holding up the slightly bloody black piece of cotton. When the girl shook her head, she walked back over to genin and began to wrap the redhead's arm in a makeshift sling. It took a few minutes, but she was eventually able to tie the cloth tight enough so that the genin could use her uninjured arm for something other than holding the injured one. Growing weary of the awkward silence developing among the three of them, Tayuya looked up at her teacher with an amused grin.

"Where's the old man? Those two guys didn't kick his ass, did they?" Anko stared incredulously at the younger girl, amazed that she could even suggest such a thing.

"Are you kidding?! This is_ Jiraiya_ we're talking about -- _one of the legendary sannin_. They barely_ scratched_ him let alone beat him." Of course, Tayuya had been expecting this answer.

"I guess Juro's alright too, then. There's _no way_ that old fucker would lose against her." The woman's face noticeably tightened, and she immediately stood to her feet and turned back in the direction she'd come.

"Come on, we should meet up with Jiraiya. He has something to show Naruto." A pang of fear resounded in Tayuya's heart. Just by Anko avoiding the question she knew that something had happened to the old farmer. She stood to her feet and began to follow the jounin, only to realize that Naruto had yet to move from his spot on the ground. Hell, now that she thought about it, he hadn't even said a word since they'd been sitting there.

"Naruto, we're going. Hurry up or we'll leave you behind," she called, resting her good hand on her hip. She watched impatiently as he slowly pushed himself into a standing position, his face still turned towards the slightly muddy earth beneath him as he walked over in their direction. Satisfied he was coming, she turned forward once again and followed their teacher.

She led them through nearly half a mile of forest, every now and then yelling for Naruto to hurry up. They soon reached a particularly large clearing -- only to find that it was nothing more than a huge crater of smoke and soot. Tayuya gawked at the destruction. What Naruto had done couldn't even _compare _to this carnage.

"Naruto, come here." Hearing his name, the blond lifted his head and looked in the direction the voice had come from. Seeing the shape of his sensei, he walked over towards the smoke silhouetted figure, his teammate hot on his heels. Even though he'd only called for Naruto, she wanted to see what he wanted too. They walked over to the sannin's side, noticing the grim expression marring his normally grinning face. The man placed his hand on the blond's shoulder and nodded towards something off to their left.

Lying in the middle of an especially charred part of the crater were the still burning remains of Juro, the man they'd come to see as an uncle of sorts. They could still see his general shape; his bones weren't quite blackened from the fire, and half of his face looked like it had been ripped off by some ungodly monstrous being. Both of his legs were missing along with half of his torso, and looking closer, they could make out another, smaller burnt figure directly next to him.

Naruto wrenched his head away from the scene, closing his eyes and choking back a sob as he realized that the man was dead. Jiraiya tightened his grip on the boy's shoulder, his own frown deepening.

"Look at it, Naruto." The blond vigorously shook his head, refusing to turn back towards the gruesome remains of the farmer. "Look at it!" He forcefully grabbed Naruto's head and turned it back to the scene, making it so that he couldn't look away even if he wanted to.

"NO! STOP IT! LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" he screamed, fighting against the man's grip. He didn't want to see it. He didn't want to see someone he cared about in such a horrible state. Above all, he didn't want to believe that Juro was dead. A hard slap to his face immediately stopped his screams, and he turned wide eyes on the girl he'd come to see as his closest friend. "T...Tayuya-chan..."

Although she tried to hide it, slapping him had hurt her far more than it could ever have hurt him. Tears prickled hotly at the back of her eyeballs as stared into his shocked face, and she painfully swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. She hated those eyes of his; the mistrust and betrayal they regarded her with shook her to her very core, and it took all of her willpower not to turn her head away in pain. This was necessary; he wouldn't grow as a shinobi or a person if he didn't understand this simple concept.

"Look at him." He stared shocked at her for a few more seconds, unable to believe what she was telling him to do. However, she didn't back down. He slowly turned his gaze back to the dead farmer, face scrunched up in grief and torment.

"Being a ninja isn't just about fighting bad guys and saving the world, Naruto. People will die; family, friends, lovers, nor comrades are exempt from this basic law of life. Being a ninja also means that you will be killing the friends and lovers of other people." Jiraiya paused to look down at the blond, making sure he was listening to his words. "This is a sight you will see often during your time as a shinobi. The pain is unbearable, isn't it? Seeing a person who was so lively and vibrant only the day before become nothing but a cold, lifeless shell of their former selves is a feeling that you need to get used to. Otherwise, you might as well quit being a shinobi right now."

Tayuya looked up at the sannin in horror. She understood what he was trying to do, but he was taking it way too far. The blond couldn't handle a statement like that; he wasn't ready for it! If he put it like that, Naruto really would quit being a ninja! She took a step forward and opened her mouth to protest his words, but before she could make a sound, Anko tightly wrapped her arm around her neck in a basic choke hold.

"Quiet down. This doesn't concern you." The redhead fought as hard as she could against the jounin's grip, but it was hopeless with only the use of one arm. Hatred towards the adults ran throughout her veins. What the hell were they thinking?! Did they really want to ruin his dreams over something like this?! Jiraiya relaxed his hand on the blond's head, staring down at him as he did so.

"What are you going to do, Naruto? Could you handle losing everyone you care about one by one? Do you think you have what it takes to survive, even if everything is taken away from you? If _Tayuya_ was taken from you?" Rather than answer, the boy jerked himself away from the sannin and ran into the forest, leaving his remaining three traveling companions alone in the clearing. Jiraiya sighed tiredly as he watched him go, rubbing a weary hand over his face. No matter what anyone said, being a teacher was hard.

"You can let her go now, Anko." Not even a second after the woman released her grip, Tayuya shot off in the direction Naruto had gone. "Leave him!" Jiraiya shouted, stopping the girl in her tracks. She slowed down long enough to glare at the man from over her shoulder.

"Why?! You might not give a fuck about Naruto, but _I_ do! What do you think will happen if you say something like that to him?!" Despite the situation, a small, mischievous grin appeared on Anko's face.

"So, you finally admit to caring about him, huh?" Predictably, the redhead's face heated up, spreading a light pink blush across her cheeks.

"N-not like that! I just mean, well...a lot has happened in such a short time, and even a happy-go-lucky guy like him would do something stupid if you say that kind of shit." Nodding, Jiraiya began to head back towards the farmhouse, his gait noticeably slow and tired.

"Maybe. But isn't dealing with these kinds of things part of being a shinobi? We can't hold his hand forever and tell him that everything's going to be alright. He has to fight both Orochimaru _and_ the Akatsuki in three years; if he hopes to have even the smallest of chances of survival, he's gonna have to grow up and face the real world head on. For now, just leave him be."

Tayuya blinked in surprise as she watched his back, marveling at the seriousness with which he'd spoken. For the second time that day, she was reminded of just who the man was. She was pissed as hell at him, but she couldn't deny that he probably knew better than she did.

Glancing at the corpse of Juro one last time, she turned to walk back to the farm with a heavy heart and mind.

**oooooooooooooooooooooooo**

Silence.

Except for the odd clang or creak coming from the old house, not a single sound could be heard on the farm. Never in her life would she have imagined that this place would be void of Juro, Tayuya, and Naruto's loud laughter, and to be quite honest, the eery silence was starting to get to her.

Anko glanced over her Playkunoichi magazine at the girl lying face up on her futon. While she found it cute that Tayuya was worried about Naruto, she also found it a bit disconcerting how depressed and lackluster she became when he wasn't around. At that moment, she was reminded of the conversation she'd had with the Hokage when she was first assigned this mission.

The Godaime had mentioned a potential problem involving the two being together all of the time. From what she'd gathered, the redhead had never been close to another person in her entire life; in that respect, she was just like the blond himself. Tsunade had also told her about what had happened after their battle with the Sound-nin and how possessive of Naruto she'd become ever since then. While this ordinarily wouldn't be a problem, the fact that she was semi-dependent on the boy made things a bit more complicated.

If something, or _someone_ ever tried to get between them, it was impossible to predict what the girl would do. Worst case scenario, she'd eliminate the threat at any costs; even if included killing the other person. Sure, it was extreme, but one could never underestimate the mental state of a shinobi. Anko sighed heavily at the thought. Why did she have to deal with the emotional problems of teenagers? Wasn't it just her mission to train them to fight Orochimaru?

Despite that thought, she really didn't mind being involved with the genin. She herself wasn't that close to many people, and as such, she was beginning to see the two of them as her little brother and sister. Well, to be more accurate, she saw Tayuya as her younger sister and Naruto as her sister's prepubescent boyfriend. They were both just as screwed up as she was in one way or another, so it was actually pretty easy to understand where the two were coming from in most situations.

She glanced up at her student again, finding that the girl hadn't moved so much as an inch in the two hours they'd been sitting there. She was starting to become a bit concerned seeing the normally hyperactive redhead just lying there, so putting on what she hoped was an encouraging smile, she lowered her magazine and fully turned to face her student.

"Taya-chan, why don't we do some training? It's been a few days since we've done anything, and your shoulder seems to be healing rather quickly. We can just do some simple stretches and kicks, nothing big." Without moving anything other than her mouth, she replied.

"Don't feel like it." Anko bit back another sigh. She'd been expecting that answer, but it still didn't make her any less disappointed.

"I see." The woman racked her brain for another subject, but nothing seemed to come to mind. Well, one thing thing did, but she was trying to avoid that particular subject. However, since nothing else was working, she bit the bullet and said the one thing she knew would get the genin's attention. "So, you're not mad at Naru-chan anymore?" Instantly, Tayuya turned to look at her, a faint spark of interest appearing in her dull brown orbs.

"No. You were wrong; he wasn't ignoring me because he was tired of me, but because he was training hard to protect me." She choked out a weak laugh, a faint smile flickering across her lips. "Can you believe that shit? Where the hell does he get these stupid ideas?" When the jounin's eye twitched ever so slightly, the redhead pushed herself up onto her good elbow and narrowed her eyes. "...You had something to do with it, didn't you?!" Anko held her arms out in front of her, putting on an innocent frown.

"Hey, calm down. I didn't know he'd take it to that extreme!" It was too late. The girl was already angry about not being allowed to approach Naruto, and this particular conversation gave her the excuse she needed to vent. Still, Anko reasoned, it was much better than talking to a brick wall.

"What the _fuck_ did you tell him?!" she yelled, already on her feet and heading in the jounin's direction. Annoyingly, Anko only shrugged innocently and went back to her magazine.

"I didn't tell him anything. All I said was that he should stop spending so much time playing boyfriend and girlfriend with you and focus more on getting strong enough to bring back Sasuke. That's what this trip was originally for, right? Besides, I said it as more of an offhand comment than anything." Rather than blow up like she expected her to, Tayuya made an abrupt turn towards the doorway. "Where are you going?"

"Out."

"If you're thinking of looking for Naru-chan, don't. We're serious when we told you to leave him alone." The girl gripped the doorknob angrily, slowly turning it to open the door. "If you walk out that door, I won't hesitate to take you back to Konoha. Then, you won't be able to see him for another two and a half years." Anko watched Tayuya carefully for a reaction, seeing her entire body shake as she fought with herself over what to do. She felt a little bad for threatening her like this, but it was the only way she was certain her pupil would listen.

"But...we haven't seen him in days," she mumbled defeatedly, her arm dropping limply to her side.

"Even so, he has to make the choice by himself. If he decides to continue in his goal to bring back Sasuke, then the _real_ training can begin. If not, well, we go home. It's as simple as that." She stood by the door for a few minutes, mentally debating what she should do. Her heart said to find Naruto and bring him back, but her common sense told her she'd be fucking stupid to do what her heart told her to. Finally nodding her understanding, Tayuya walked over to sit by the window. She didn't like it, but there was nothing she could do at the moment.

She leaned her elbow on the thin windowsill and rested her chin on her hand, staring out at the golden rows of wheat below. For the first time since Juro's death, she wondered what would happen to the plants he'd so lovingly taken care of for all those years. Would they wither and die like nature ordained? Or by some miracle would they stand strong and live until the end of time?

In a way, their situation was similar to Naruto's.

**oooooooooooooooooooooooo**

Bored didn't begin to describe how she felt at that moment. Naruto had been missing for a week now, but oddly enough, she was growing used to him not being there. In his absence, Anko had been hanging around her a lot more -- presumably to help her cope with being alone again. The heavy sound of footsteps walking up the stairs caused her ears to perk, and she slowly rolled over in her futon to see who it was.

"He's not back yet, huh?" Jiraiya asked, a frown marring his normally perverted face. He'd left the farm house to pick up some more food from the next town a couple of days ago, and had apparently just returned. Without even giving him a response, she turned back around to face the wall. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't still angry at him for what he'd said; things would be different right now if he had just kept his mouth shut.

"I know you're still angry with me over Naruto, but I don't regret my decision in the least. Going into battle with half-hearted feelings will only cause him to get himself killed in the end, so it's better if he comes to terms with himself now rather than later." The girl continued to ignore him, eyes still focused on the smooth wooden surface of the wall in front of her. Sighing, the sannin walked out of the room and headed back down the stairs.

"Still quiet?" Jiraiya nodded and took a seat opposite of Anko, accepting the cup of tea she'd prepared earlier.

"It's to be expected, though. " An awkward silence settled over the two adults, both of them taking the chance to sip at the cooling beverage. The woman once again put down her cup and looked over at the man with a slightly worried frown.

"You think he's alright? It's been a week already, and there _is_ a chance that he's dead."

"Even if he wanted to, the Kyuubi wouldn't just let him die like that. Besides, there's a small stream somewhere on this property with plenty of fish, and Naruto's been taught how to survive with the bare minimum amount of resources available. He'll be fine. He won't kill himself over something like this. Probably." Anko sighed deeply. All three of them had been doing a lot of that lately, and she was really starting to grow tired of it.

"I'm gonna go check up on Taya-chan." She hopped up from the table and walked up the stairs, leaving Jiraiya alone at the table. The door to the genin's room was already open, so she slipped inside and quietly closed it behind her. If Tayuya noticed her, she sure didn't show it. Creeping over to the redhead, she lie down behind her and snaked her arms around the younger girl's waist.

"Go away," Tayuya muttered, not even bothering to honor the jounin with a reaction. Anko pouted and squeezed the genin tighter, looping one of her smooth bare legs over her student's own.

"Don't wanna." The redhead threw a half-hearted elbow towards the woman, but when it didn't connect, she simply rolled the appendage back to its original position and closed her eyes. There was no use fighting her; in fact, the best way to get rid of her was to not do anything. "Good girl," Anko grinned when she immediately gave up.

She tightened her grip on the redhead and dug her face into the girl's hair, gently nuzzling the back of her neck. Her smirk widened when Tayuya stiffened uncomfortably at the action, and she used one of her hands to carefully stroke the genin's hair.

"You can talk to me about Naruto, if you want. I promise not to make fun of you for it." The girl in her arms snorted disbelievingly, curling herself into a tighter ball. She didn't believe the jounin for a second. "I swear. This conversation will never leave the house, and I'll never bring it up again unless you want me to." As she spoke, she continued to soothingly run her hands through Tayuya's long red hair, hoping to get the girl to open up even a little bit. To her pleasant surprise, the genin let loose a tired sigh and turned around in her arms to face the jounin.

"If you're lying, I'll make my doki string you up by your ears and have them take turns raping you until your cervix implodes on itself." An amused, toothy grin appeared on the woman's face. She was getting more imaginative with her insults.

"Even though that sounds like fun, you have my word." Both pairs of brown eyes stared into the other, neither one backing down for the longest time. Finally, Tayuya averted her gaze and turned back around, growing highly uncomfortable with having her face so close to another person's.

"I miss him. That's it." She felt her face heat up at the simple declaration and curled herself into a tighter ball. She absolutely hated talking about her feelings -- on second thought, that wasn't true. The fact of the matter was that she'd never really had a chance to talk about them. No one in the Sound Village cared about how she felt. They only cared about either how well she could do her job or how to avoid pissing her off -- a smart thing, given her track record for fucking people up just for walking within a foot of her.

"Come on, there's more than that. It's just us here, Taya-chan, and I promise you'll feel better once you talk about it." The girl let loose an exasperated sigh.

"What do you want me to say?! I mean, he's like my best friend. I didn't even know what laughing in happiness felt like until I met him. Sure, it makes me feel weak sometimes, but..." She paused momentarily to gather her thoughts before speaking again. "...but, I think it's the good kind of weakness. The kind that's okay to have, even if you're a shinobi. You know?" Anko nodded lightly, immediately understanding what she meant. She'd learned of that feeling shortly after meeting Kurenai, Asuma, Ibiki, Gai, and Kakashi. In other words, that 'weakness' she was talking about was _truly_ caring for another person.

"So...although he says he wants to protect me, I want to protect him even more. Not just from the Akatsuki, Danzou, and Orochimaru, but from everything and everyone that wants to hurt him. I know it sounds selfish, but _I _want to be the only person he comes to when he feels upset since he did the same thing for me all those months ago. And...that's all." The woman hugged Tayuya closer to her chest, proud of the girl for opening up like she never had before. In just under five minutes, she had managed to break through a major barrier in her life.

"You've said more than enough. Because of this, you can now grow emotionally instead of just physically like you've been doing until now."

"Don't get all deep and shit on me," the redhead joked, glancing at Anko from over her shoulder. Just like the jounin had said before, she felt ten times better now. Somehow, the situation with Naruto didn't seem as bad as she'd originally thought, and she realized that she really had nothing to worry about. The boy that had changed her view on life would never give up just because he happened to face one little roadblock; he'd been dealing with those since the day he was born. The gentle humming of the woman currently embracing her broke her out of her thoughts. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Humming. No law against that." She continued to sing the simple tune, messing with the redhead's hair as she did so. Oddly enough, Tayuya's eyes gradually began to close as Anko sung lowly, and her head slowly sunk down to her pillow. She hadn't really been getting much sleep lately because of her constant worrying, and now that she'd come to terms with the situation, she found that she couldn't keep her eyes open.

As the afternoon light poured into the small wooden room, Tayuya drifted off into unconsciousness, for the first time in days allowing herself to have a full, uninterrupted bout of rest.

**oooooooooooooooooooooooo**

Shaking herself awake, Tayuya was only barely aware that it was dark outside. Apparently, she'd dozed off sometime between her 'heartfelt confession' to Anko and now. She rolled over to look behind herself, only to find that the woman was already gone. It was just as well. She wasn't ready to deal with the mild awkwardness that would undoubtedly surround the two of them for the next week or so.

Yawning, she rolled herself up into a sitting position. She felt thoroughly refreshed after her admittedly long nap, and she stretched her arms high above her head in a languid fashion. Miraculously, her shoulder wound was for the most part healed. It still throbbed painfully if she moved it too much, but the only sign that she'd even been stabbed was an angry red and blue welt just inside of her shoulder blade. Whatever seal they'd used on her a few months earlier was effective as hell.

She contemplated going back to sleep to try to gain another few hours, but decided that the effort would be futile. Once she woke up, that was it; no amount of pixie dust nor warm milk could send her back to dreamland. Sighing deeply, she crawled over to the window and sat in front of it, staring up at the brightly shining moon above her.

It seemed strange for a tomboy like herself to find such a cliche thing beautiful, but she couldn't help it. Even in the Sound village she often took moonlit walks in the night, reveling in the peace and solitude the late hour provided her. It was like the one time when everything stopped except for her. Perhaps that was why she liked practicing her flute at night.

A dark shadow in her peripheral vision made her snap her head around to her left. She was certain she'd seen something just a second ago, and while it was possible that it could be either Jiraiya or Anko, she somehow doubted it. She pressed her face against the glass as if it would help her get a better view and scanned the darkened fields of wheat below her. Her heart leapt into her throat when a particularly large cluster of the plants moved. Just as she'd thought, there was someone out there, and whatever the thing was was heading straight for the house.

A flash of golden blond caused her eyes to widen, and she immediately jumped to her feet in shock. It was Naruto. There was no doubt about it. It was him. He was back. No fucking way. She almost couldn't believe it! Without so much as a second glance, she flew out of the room and scurried down the stairs, intent on being the first one to greet him.

She was sure that her hair and face were a mess; not that she particularly cared. Regardless, she used her fingers to fluff and tame her hair into a reasonable shape, licking one of her hands and rubbing it into her thick red mane to add some moisture to the uncontrollable mess. She then used her hands and shirt to wipe the sand from her eyes. Her hasty grooming was interrupted by the slow turning of the front door's knob, and she quickly dropped her hands back to her sides in anticipation.

Just as she'd expected, one Uzumaki Naruto wearily stepped through the door, clothes ripped and torn beyond belief and hair a horrible mess of twigs, leaves, and mud. None of that mattered to her, though; she launched herself at him anyway. Not expecting the surprise tackle, both genin were sent tumbling to the ground, the blond managing to land painfully on his back.

To say he was shocked would be an understatement. He didn't know exactly how long he'd been gone, but given Tayuya's uncharacteristically exuberant reaction to his return, he reasoned that it had to have been a somewhat large amount of time. She gripped him tightly around his neck, body sprawled haphazardly on top of his. Okay, so the tackle hadn't gone completely according to plan. In her mind, he would catch her and and grin that mischievously foxy grin of his, earning himself a mildly painful bop on the head for going missing for so long.

Still, she wasn't too broken up about her fantasy going down in flames. This was just as good, in her opinion. He smelled distinctively like a mixture of earth, rain water, and musk, a scent she was somewhat used to growing up with four non-hygienic young males in such close quarters. She tightened her arms around him and looked up at his whiskered face, certain that her smile was splitting her own face in half.

Although no one said anything, they both understood that once the sun rose in a few hours, what had just happened between them would cease to exist. They'd take this event to their graves, and no amount of torture nor extortion would ever change that fact. For now, though, she was content to have the blond back at her side, ready to continue the harsh battle to realize their dreams together.

"I'm back," Naruto croaked out, voice hoarse with misuse. Tayuya beamed up at him, enthusiastically meeting his bright blue eyes with her own light brown ones.

"Welcome back."

**AN: This is satisfaction. End of arc.  
**


	23. Chapter 23

**The Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 23**

"Danzou-sama!" Danzou sighed deeply as yet another one of his subordinates called out his name. He really, _really_ needed to put some kind of lock on his chamber doors to keep these idiots from bugging him every time one of them chipped a tooth or broke a finger.

"What?" he almost spat, leaning backwards in his large chair. What could it be this time? Someone died? They wanted a raise? His thoughts were immediately interrupted when he laid his eyes upon the shinobi who had rushed into his office. To be quite honest, the man looked like shit.

His face was a mess of dirt and scratches, and his clothes weren't faring much better. Copious amounts of dried blood was caked to his torso, and after moving his gaze a little to the shinobi's left, he instantly understood why.

"What happened to your arm?" Danzou asked, more out of curiosity than concern. Everything below his elbow joint was simply gone -- almost as if it had been chopped off by the sharpest sword in the Fire Country. Blood still dripped from the hastily bandaged appendage, and the ROOT leader idly wondered how the man was even standing. Finally getting a grip on himself, the shinobi dropped to one knee before his master.

"The K-Kyuubi." To say he was surprised would be a vast understatement. Now that he looked a little closer, he did recognize the wounded shinobi as the one he'd sent to spy on Naruto. Sending Tsukino and her team had been a mere decoy to get a bead on the boy so that he could keep an eye on him, and shrugging slightly, he regarded the man before him with an invasive stare.

"Where are the others that were sent with you?"

"All dead, sir." Danzou shrugged again on the inside. No surprise there. Jiraiya was _heaps_ above Tsukino in terms of skill and strength, and although he probably wouldn't escape without a few heavy wounds, the older man could take on her entire team if he really had to.

"I see. I don't suppose you all managed to kill any of them, then?"

"Only Juro, Danzou-sama. He killed himself along with Tsukino-sama." The old man felt himself smirk. Things hadn't gone according to plan, but at least he'd managed to find and kill that elusive thorn-in-the-side student of his. Tsukino was well worth the sacrifice, in his opinion. Still, something much more important plagued him.

"How was their progress? Did you see their attacks?" The man shakily nodded his head.

"T-they...they were average at best. The girl only used one Earth style jutsu and basic ninja weapons, and the demon hasn't improved at all. H-he was only able to win once he used his demonic power, but when he did, it was frightening." Danzou nodded his head slowly. He wouldn't put it past Juro to warn the kids ahead of time not to reveal all of their best attacks and skills. His former student was notorious for being able to look underneath the underneath.

He was disappointed that he hadn't been able to see how the redhead fought, but he was pleased that the Kyuubi container could now call upon his power at will. Once he got his hands on the boy, it'd be child's play to turn him into ROOT's fiercest warrior. And who knows? He might be able to breed the two genin together to create many more powerful soldiers for use in his army. He closed his eyes and smirked. There was no use planning ahead when he hadn't even obtained the demon.

"How did you lose your arm? Wasn't your mission just to monitor the Kyuubi?" The man noticeably stiffened in fear.

"Y-yes, Danzou-sama, but he..._he sensed me_. That brat sensed me! After he ran off alone into the woods, I attempted to follow him as per your orders. But, out of nowhere, he just -- a huge red claw just -- my arm, it..." Danzou sighed deeply. Why did he even bother sending weaklings out on such important missions? It was becoming more and more obvious that his scout hadn't been able to pick up much of anything worth hearing; a fact that disappointed him greatly.

"I understand." He lifted his hand and snapped his fingers, instantly summoning a young, black-haired boy. "Take this man to the infirmary, and afterwards, send out a higher ranked shinobi to monitor the Kyuu--"

"No!" Internally shocked, the one eyed man slowly turned to look at the still kneeling shinobi.

"Are you telling me what to do?"

"N-no, Danzou-sama! Never! I'm just suggesting that we kill him now before he gets any stronger! If we don't do something soon, he'll become too powerful for even_ you_ to bring dow--" Before he could finish the sentence, his head was cleanly sliced off by the young boy's blade. Despite being slightly miffed that he hadn't been able to get what little information he could from the man, Danzou felt a smirk appear on his face as the man's head rolled around on the ground.

"As I was saying. Send out a younger, higher ranked shinobi to monitor the Kyuubi for the time being. Oh, and get someone to clean up this mess." The boy nodded and kneeled before his master.

"Hai, Danzou-sama."

**oooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

"Naruto! Na-ru-to! Oi! Get up!" The blond groaned and turned over in his sleeping bag, digging himself deeper into the warm, soft material. "Bastard, wake up already!"

"Come on, Sakura-chan, just a few more minutes..." he mumbled, closing his eyes again. For a few seconds, he thought he'd gotten his wish. However, if he knew Tayuya -- if he _really_ knew her -- he'd have immediately known that something was wrong. Frowning deeply, the redhead pinched his nose and placed her hand over his mouth.

She watched angrily as his eyes popped open in surprise, and he struggled futilely to pull her hands away from his face. Just as his face began to turn a deep shade of red, the girl let go and sat back on her haunches, blinking impassively as he shot up and took long, gasping breaths of air.

"What...what the _hell_ are you doing?! Are you trying to kill me?!" Tayuya shrugged and stood to her feet, nonchalantly brushing off her shorts.

"Hey, I gave you a chance to get up on your own. Maybe next time you'll get up when I tell you to." The blond grumbled but also stood to his feet, rubbing harshly at his eyes in an attempt to fully wake himself up.

"Why's it so important that I get up _now_, anyway? It isn't even daybreak." The redhead stared at him as if he'd grown another head, taking a step back in horror at his question.

"_Because_! After seven long, fucking months, we're _finally_ getting out of the Fire Country! Aren't you excited?!" Staring at her bright and (literally) sparkling eyes, he couldn't help the small grin that appeared on his face at her exuberance. Rolling his eyes on the inside, he stretched his arms high above his head, wincing a bit at the lightheadedness the action caused.

"Okay, okay, I'm awake. But you still have to wait for --"

"Already woke them up. They're getting changed as we speak. Now hurry up and get packed! Here, I'll help you." Before he could even move, Tayuya kneeled down and began to roll up his sleeping bag, paying no mind to the dirt she was accumulating on her knees. When he didn't bend down to help her, she looked up at him with an angry pout. "Come oooon!"

If it weren't for the fact that she'd kill him for even _thinking_ it, he'd have said that her whining was cute. Instead, he bent over and picked up the few the items he had strewn about around his sleeping bag. It was almost hard to believe it'd been so long.

The four of them had literally been traveling from one side of the Fire Country to the other. Turns out the only person who could use the emergency escape seal was Juro, and since the original seal had been unraveled by Tsukino and her team, they were forced to travel back to their original position the old fashioned way.

Of course, it hadn't taken three and a half months just to travel. They'd often stopped at certain locations for up to a week to train, either camping out under the stars or staying with fans and acquaintances of Jiraiya. Surprisingly, the older man knew a lot of people; most of which who loved his books.

"Quit daydreaming and get dressed! Kami, am I the only one who's tired of looking at nothing but fucking trees all the time?!" A mischievous grin appeared on Naruto's face.

"You just want to go to the beach." Tayuya's mouth dropped open in shock. How dare he suggest something so outrageous and illogical! Like she'd care about something as childish and juvenile as that. No way.

"W-what?! No! Where the hell did you even get that stupid idea?!" His smile widening, the blond regarded her with a knowing stare.

"I saw you looking through one of Anko-sensei's swimsuit magazines a few weeks ago. Added to the fact that it's nearly summer and we're going to the Wave Country, it wasn't that hard to figure out." Okay, so she was surprised. The fact that _Naruto_ was able to figure out her train of thought so easily was nothing short of a miracle. Perhaps all those games of 'twenty questions' and 'I spy' they'd played while traveling were beginning to pay off. Crossing her arms under her chest, she shot him an annoyed frown.

"...I wish you were stupid again." Unable to help himself, the blond burst into laughter, finding the pouty look on her face absolutely hilarious. "What?!" Instead of answering right away, he waved his hand in front of his face, still giggling under his breath.

"N-nothing!" Naruto stuttered between breaths. He grabbed a change of clothes and walked off into the forest to change before she could get any angrier. If there was one thing he'd learned about Tayuya in the seven total months they'd been together, it was that she hated being considered girly or cute in any way.

He slipped on his shinobi garb as quickly as he could, feeling more and more excited with each passing second. He was actually looking forward to visiting the Wave Country more than his teammate. He couldn't wait to see Inari, Tazuna, and Tsunami again, but more importantly, he wanted to show Tayuya the graves of Zabuza and Haku. It was one of the most influential events of his shinobi career, and nothing would please him more than to share the story with one of his closest friends.

"Naruto!" The blond sighed loudly and began to head back towards their camp, shaking his head as he did so.

God, she was impatient.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Words refused to come to her as she stared at the large sign hanging over the bridge. Glancing to her left, she was pleased to see that she wasn't the only one; both Jiraiya and Anko were currently wide-eyed with shock, looking up at the bold-lettered billboard in equal disbelief. The three of them simultaneously turned to the sheepishly grinning blond standing on their far right.

"Naruto," Jiraiya started, looking at the boy with as much seriousness as he could muster, "What the _hell_ did you do, boy?"

"I don't know! It wasn't like this when we left! I swear!" Shaking her head, Tayuya looked up at the sign above the entrance for the fifth time in ten minutes. Whoever had decided to name it the 'Great Naruto Bridge' was either an idiot, a genius, or both.

"Ano, excuse me..." the four shinobi turned around to see a girl no older than ten staring up at them with wide, hopeful eyes. "Is...is your name really Naruto?" The blond shrugged and nonchalantly nodded his head.

"Yeah, why?" Without saying another word, the girl gasped and sprinted off across the bridge, leaving them all confused and bewildered by her behavior.

"...Okay. Why the fuck're we still standing out here for?! Let's go!" Tayuya yelled, grabbing Naruto and leading the way onto the concrete structure. The bridge was huge, easily covering the span of half a mile in length. Benches and light poles were set up in straight along the bridge, and dozens of people milled back and forth across it.

Frowning, the redhead noticed that the majority of the people were staring at them. A few civilians began to point and whisper amongst themselves, and soon enough, the entire bridge was buzzing with conversation. More than a few times she saw the flash of a camera out of the corner of her eye, and glancing behind her, she noticed that a steadily growing number of people were following them. Becoming increasingly rattled by the attention, she took a step closer to the blond and tightened her grip on his forearm.

"Oi, Naruto, you didn't piss any of these people off, did you?" she whispered, glaring at whoever had enough guts to make eye contact. Anko sighed loudly, idly resting her hands behind her head.

"Don't you see what's going on here? Someone got wind of the fact that 'The Great Naruto' was back in town. I'm sure quite a few people know what you look like, and it only takes one person to start a rumor." Both teens' faces seemed to light up in understanding, and being the exuberant, attention-loving boy that he was, Naruto immediately began to grin widely and wave at the crowd as they walked. More people began to take notice of them because of the action and fell into to step with the group behind them. Horrified, Tayuya painfully yanked on his arm.

"Don't encourage them!"

"Why not?" he asked, completely brushing off her warning. "If I'm gonna be the Hokage some day, I have to get used to everyone loving and adoring me." The girl fought the urge to roll her eyes. She'd forgotten all about his idiotic quest to become the poster boy for the general public. She personally didn't understand why it was such a big deal. If they didn't like her, fuck 'em; that was her motto. Frowning, she pulled on her teammate's arm and sped up her pace, intent on getting through the hellish half-mile walk as quickly as possible.

After what seemed like hours, the group finally reached the end of the bridge. If it weren't for the fact that there were dozens of people both in front of _and_ behind them, she would've been relieved. A sudden parting of the crowd in front of them immediately caught her attention, and a few shouts of 'Move it!' and 'Clear the way!' were heard from somewhere within the mass of flesh.

A muscled, average-sized old man emerged from the group, surrounded by what she assumed to be five guards. Before she could even open her mouth to ask who the fuck he was, Naruto slipped out of her grip and jogged up to the elderly civilian.

"Tazuna-san, long time no see!" he shouted, a mile wide grin stretching his face. The man matched his smile with one of his own.

"Naruto, good to see you again! I was surprised to hear that you were in town, so I came to meet you as fast as I could. I almost didn't recognize you without your jumpsuit!" He glanced over the boy's head at the three curious shinobi behind him. "They with you?" he asked, nodding towards Tayuya and the others. When the genin nodded, the bridge builder turned and motioned for them all to follow. "This way, I'll take you to my place. It's hard to talk with all these busybodies around." Dipping his head again, Naruto turned and waved towards his traveling companions.

"This way! We're goin' to Tazuna-san's house!" Tayuya didn't have to be told twice. She seemed to almost teleport to Naruto's side, glad to be getting away from the massive amount of people. She'd always hated being pointed and stared at ever since she was a child, and since she wasn't "evil" anymore, she couldn't really kill them all in one shot like she would have before. Fuck, it sucked being good.

The group walked through the town at a leisurely gait, taking in the surrounding area with awe. Stores, hotels, and restaurants littered the main strip, every building tall and brushed with the feeling of newness. There were people everywhere; eating, talking, walking, and the redhead noticed with disgust that one horny couple was even making out in a deserted alleyway. Some people had no shame.

Naruto, on the other hand, was surprised by how much had changed in only a year. Gone were the dilapitated buildings and starving orphans. Gone was the silent, eery dreariness that seemed to seep into your bones with every step. In its place was a whole new town, fresh and lively with action -- exactly the way it should've been from the beginning.

"Here we are, my humble abode!" The group gawked at the size of the bridge builder's home. In no way, shape, or form could the castle that stood before them be called 'humble.' The house was probably bigger than Naruto's whole apartment building, and twenty times nicer.

From the outside it looked like a traditional Eastern home, complete with black-trimmed sliding doors and windows. Dozens of bushes and plants surrounded the complex, and opening the black cast-iron gate fencing in the yard, Tazuna waved for them to enter.

"Come on in, no need to be shy! I've already told Tsunami that we might be having guests." Still in shock, they walked up the long, narrow pathway leading to the front door.

"Ne, Tazuna-san, how did you get such a huge place?! What happened to your old house?!" The man let out a loud sigh, glancing over his shoulder at Naruto.

"To be honest, I'd wanted to stay right where I was. However, after completing the bridge and being voted village chief by the residents, they all insisted that I move into a home "fit for my position." The blond nodded his head, eyes still wandering over the vast property. Things had definitely changed. "Tsunami! Guess who's here!" Tazuna called, unlocking and sliding open the front door to the mansion. A young, black-haired woman poked her head out from around the corner.

"Naruto-kun! You really are here!" she gasped, obviously surprised by his presence. "Please, come in, I'll have some tea ready for you all in a moment!" Just as quickly as she had come, the woman disappeared again.

"You heard her; this way." As he led them through the house, the group took the chance to study the interior of the mansion. If it was possible, the inside was even more impressive than the outside. Large, colorful wall scrolls hung from the pristine white surface of the walls, and various pictures of Tazuna and his family sat on the smooth wooden surfaces of the tables.

Naruto recognized most of the photos from the old house, but he was surprised to see one of him, Inari, Tsunami, and the rest of Team 7 at the official finishing of the bridge party they'd held the night before their departure. He smiled sadly as he noticed that he and Sasuke were smirking at the camera with matching grins, arms hanging over each others' shoulders in a rare display of comraderie. It was hard to believe that they'd fought to the death just over half a year ago.

"Naruto." He glanced to his left to see Tayuya looking over at him in..._concern_. "What's wrong?" The others walking with him were giving him similar glances, and putting on a wide grin, Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"Ah, nothing! I was just wondering when this picture was taken."

"Oh, that? I took it. I could get you a copy, if you'd like." The blond's grin widened considerably, and he nodded his head enthusiastically in response. Satisfied that everything was fine, the others turned to continue towards the guest room. The only one still staring at Naruto was Tayuya. She didn't look particularly angry, but something about the way her eyes bore into his made him flinch on the inside.

"Idiot." Surprised, Naruto watched her continue on down the hallway. What was that for? Had he done something wrong? He'd only been trying to not ruin the mood by being sour about Sasuke's defection. Shaking his head, he jogged to catch up to the group. They walked for a few more seconds until they reached a large, open porch overlooking the backyard. Tazuna motioned for them to take a seat on the throw pillows surrounding a low table.

"So, Naruto, what brings you back to the Wave Country?" the bridge builder asked, plopping down on the pillow at the head of the table.

"I'm on a training mission! The Hokage wants me to get super strong in three years, so I'm training with Ero-sennin, Anko-sensei, and Tayuya-chan."

"Oh? Where are Sasuke and Sakura-chan? You guys become chuunin and split up already?" The blond's face noticeably dropped at the question. To be honest, he hadn't thought about his teammates much at all since they'd begun the trip. His days were filled with training and hanging out with Tayuya, so he didn't have time to think about much else. Now, though, it seemed as if all of his concerns and worries converged on this one point in time, nearly overwhelming his mind with questions and thoughts about his former team.

"Sakura-chan's training with the Hokage, and S-Sasuke..."

"He's training with someone else." Naruto looked over at Tayuya in shock, only to find that she was staring straight ahead at Tazuna with a blank expression. He hadn't expected her to chime in for him, but he was immensely grateful for the intrusion. In his current state of mind, there was no way he'd be able to think up a good enough answer without giving away the truth. Sensing the girl's intentions, Anko shrugged her shoulders and leaned back on her hands.

"Anyway, that's the story. Now, what's with 'The Great Naruto Bridge'? Surely the chibi didn't do anything great enough to get a bridge named after him." Jiraiya nodded his head, crossing his arms over his chest as he did so.

"I'm quite curious about it myself." Although she didn't say anything, the redhead also raised her eyes expectantly at the old man. It wasn't everyday that someone got a bridge as huge as that named after them. Tazuna laughed loudly, mouth opening wide in genuine mirth.

"Well, it's not his physical strength that really affected our town. If that was the case, we'd have named it 'The Great Kakashi Bridge.' Instead, it was what he did for our country emotionally that made a difference." Tayuya tilted her head, glancing at the man in disbelief.

"Emotionally? What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, in a way, he united us all and gave us the strength to fight against Gatou and his financial oppression. It wasn't until Naruto arrived that our town was able to flourish, and as such, the villagers and I found it fitting to name it after him. After all, the bridge is uniting us with the rest of the shinobi world." He paused as if remembering something before turning to the redhead sitting next to Naruto. "Your name was...Tayuya, right?" The girl blinked but shrugged slightly, her frown deepening by a miniscule amount.

"Yeah, what about it?" The old man's smirk widened, and a mischievous glint appeared in his eyes.

"I see Naruto's moved on from Sakura-chan. I like the girl and all, but if you ask me, you two go together a lot better." Both genin gawked at the old man. What the hell was he trying to imply?! Anko cackled wildly from her spot in front of Tayuya, and even Jiraiya had a disturbingly amused grin on his face. Luckily for them, Tsunami chose that moment to walk into the room with their drinks.

"Oh? Did I miss something?" she asked, setting the tray down on the large table before taking a seat herself.

"No!" the teens simultaneously yelled, both of their cheeks dusted with a light shade of pink. Unfortunately, this only amused the adults further. Finally deciding to take pity on the two, the sannin turned towards Tazuna, taking a large gulp from his tea cup.

"Seeing as how you and Naruto seem to be on fairly good terms, I was wondering if we could ask you for a favor." The bridge builder looked positively appalled at the question, and leaning back a little, he regarded Jiraiya with an astonished stare.

"Are you kidding? A favor is the least we could do for the Wave Country's savior! If we can help with your training in any way, just let us know!" Tayuya glanced over at the older shinobi with a curious frown. What could the town leader do for them that they couldn't do for themselves?

"Well, is there a place on this island we could use for a few months? We don't mind paying, of course, but we'd like the area to be reasonably closed off from the general public." Jiraiya glanced over at the redhead with an inward smirk, noticing her hopeful expression. "It'd also be nice if there was a beach nearby." Tazuna crossed his arms in thought, grunting slightly as he rolled the criteria around in his head.

"That means you wouldn't want something over here, then. All of the beach area is on the other side of the island." As if suddenly remembering something, Tsunami set down her cup of tea and looked up at her father.

"What about our vacation home, dad? It's plenty big enough for all of us, and we'd only be able to stay there for a couple of weeks during the summer anyway." Naruto's eyes widened to the size of silver dollars.

"You have _another_ house?!" he exclaimed, unable to believe the words that had come from the woman's mouth. She giggled under her breath, holding an amused hand over her mouth.

"We didn't want it originally, but the villagers insisted that we have a place to get away from everything. Once we got there, though, even we couldn't turn down such a wonderful place. It's right next to the ocean, so it's almost like having your own private beach. The front of the home is also fenced off, so I doubt too many people would bother you. But, seeing as how Naruto-kun is a celebrity here, there may be some folks who will want an autograph or picture with him." If it was possible, the blond's face lit up even more. His teammate probably wouldn't like it, but he'd love to have people dropping by to visit.

"That sounds like fun! C'mon, Ero-sennin, let's do it! We can, right, Tazuna-san? Right?" Tayuya too turned her gaze on the bridge builder, compelling him with her eyes to agree to it. Under the immense pressure of everyone's stares, the old man found that he couldn't refuse -- not that he would have anyway.

"Hm, I suppose that would be the best idea. On one condition, though; you have to keep the place up during your stay." Naruto jumped to his feet, happiness evident on every feature of his face. That was more common sense than an actual condition, but he certainly didn't mind keeping to it. Although he didn't notice, a wide, toothy grin also broke out on Tayuya's face.

"Yes! Thanks, Tsunami-san, Tazuna-san!"

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask; what's with all this _Tazuna-san_ stuff? Whatever happened to 'old man'? Don't tell me you've learned some respect for your elders," he joked, looking over at the boy with amusement. The temperature in the room noticeably dropped. For a few minutes, no one spoke, making the old man a little nervous. "Did I say something wrong?"The blond shook his head, eyes focused on the hands resting in his lap.

"No, it's just that...when I say old man, it reminds me of someone else." Neither Tazuna nor Tsunami bothered to question the boy further. Just looking at the downcast expressions of the shinobi around the table told them all they needed to know. Putting on a bright smile, Tsunami hopped to her feet and began to gather their finished cups of tea from around the table.

"Well then, I'll show you to the rooms that you can use for the night. Dad can take you over to the beach house tomorrow morning. Right, dad?" The old man nodded, also standing to his feet and stretching.

"Sure thing. Definitely beats sitting in a stuffy office all day. I'm tellin' ya, I almost can't understand why Naruto wants to become the Hokage so badly. That's still your goal, isn't it?" The genin grinned widely and nodded his head, mimicking the town leader's action.

"Of course! I won't stop until the entire village recognizes me!" Tazuna laughed again, shaking his head at the boy's one track mindedness. Despite changing a bit on the outside, on the inside, he was still the same Naruto he'd met over a year ago.

"Tazuna-san, if you don't mind, I'd like to discuss a few more details regarding the property around the beach house." The bridge builder nodded, motioning for the sannin to follow him. Anko too started to get up, but a small cough from the girl in front of her caught her attention. She looked over at Tayuya with a curious stare, noticing the highly uncomfortable look marring the normally angry redhead's face.

"What's up, Taya-chan? If you have something to say, spit it out." The teenager lifted her eyes to shoot a withering glare towards the older woman, but she quickly averted her gaze a few seconds later.

"I need a favor."


	24. Chapter 24

**The Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 24**

"It should be just around this bend. I warn you, we haven't been there since last fall, so it's probably a little dusty. You guys have your work cut out for you!" Tazuna joked, adjusting the sun hat on his head. "It sure is hot today, though; if it's only ten o'clock now, I hate to feel the heat a couple of hours from now." Naruto gawked at the old man walking ahead of them.

"You mean it gets _hotter_?!" The man solemnly nodded his head, glancing over his shoulder at the genin.

"This is nothing. Next month, you'll start seeing mirages and dead people on the side of the road. Ah -- here we are!" He came to a stop in front of a large metal gate, the bars held closed by a thick, cast-iron chain.

It didn't look particularly secure, but the bridge builder had already explained that it was there to help rope off the property more than anything. He produced a large, silver key from his pocket and put it into the huge padlock keeping the gate closed.

"I don't see the house anywhere. Is it at the end of this path?" Anko asked, squinting between the black metal bars. A long dirt road led into a cluster of trees, making it impossible to see anything more than a couple dozen yards away. Tazuna nodded again, pushing the gate open so that the shinobi could walk through.

"Sure is! There's another, more secure gate along the way, though a shinobi could easily get in if they wanted to. It's really only there to keep out the riff-raff, if you know what I mean." As they began to walk down the final stretch leading to the house, he looked over at the redhead with a curious

. "You don't talk much, do you? In fact, I've only heard you say four or five sentences since you all got here."

"Now that you mention it, she really hasn't been talking that much. Ne, Tayuya-chan, are you feeling sick or something?" Naruto asked, furrowing his eyebrows with worry.

He waited a few seconds for her answer, but the girl continued to walk with her eyes glued to the ground, completely oblivious of the fact that she was being stared at. It wasn't until the blond placed his hand on her shoulder that she snapped her head up to look at him.

"Tayuya-chan?" To his unpleasant surprise, his teammate shied away from his grasp, nervously crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm fine." Naruto's frown deepened. No matter how he looked at it, something was bothering the girl walking at his side. While he certainly couldn't claim to know everything about her, it was obvious enough that she wasn't telling the truth. Her sudden standoffishness was beginning to worry him, and he took a step closer to get a better look at her.

"Was it something I did? " If it was possible, Tayuya shrunk even more into herself. She turned an angry gaze on the blond, once again moving away from him.

"I told you, I'm fine!" By now, they'd attracted the attention of the other adults.

"Trouble in paradise?" Anko asked, a knowing smile spreading across her face. Jiraiya lifted a curious eyebrow at the woman.

"Something I should know about?" The jounin shook her head, lightly shrugging her shoulders as she did so.

"Nah, let the chibis work it out amongst themselves. This is normal for kids, after all." Tayuya growled lowly at being called a kid, but didn't comment. It'd be better if they all left her alone, and arguing would only spark more interest. She glanced out of the corner of her eye at the downcast expression on Naruto's face, instantly feeling bad about the way she'd treated him.

She knew how he was about these things. He was the kind of person who needed a certain amount of attention per day, and by being so close to him every waking (and sleeping) moment, she'd inadvertently raised that amount. It was no wonder he was put off by her sudden demand for space. Rather than apologize, she took a hesitant step closer to the boy, just enough so that he wouldn't feel like she was avoiding him.

"There it is!" Anko yelled, acting very much like a kid herself. Both genin looked up to see a large, wooden house sitting on top of a small hill. It was easily half the size of their normal home, and also just as nice. Unlike their other home, though, this one was more Western styled with dark green doors and shutters etched neatly into the building.

They could all clearly hear the sound of the ocean, and the smell of the saltwater permeated throughout the senses. Fidgeting, Tayuya realized that she couldn't take it anymore. She rushed towards the gates as fast as she could, fully intending to hop over them and head towards the beach.

"Hold it," Jiraiya called, stopping the girl in her tracks, "We need to discuss a few things before we can relax. Don't you agree that it's better to get the work out of the way first?"

As much as she wanted to, the redhead couldn't argue with that logic. The beach would still be there when they were done, and it'd probably only take an hour at the most for them to talk about what they needed to. Regardless, she hung her head in disappointment, causing Anko to smirk evily and throw an arm around her.

"Don't worry, Taya-chan, you'll have _plenty_ of time to show it off." Naruto tilted his head, looking over at a now pink-faced Tayuya with a curious frown.

"Show what off?" The girl vigorously shook her head, once again crossing her arms over her chest.

"Nothing! Let's just hurry up!" Tazuna's eyebrows lifted into his forehead. He didn't quite understand what was going on, but he unlocked the second gate and pushed the heavy, barred door open anyway. Tayuya was the first to disappear through the entrance, followed by an extremely curious blond.

"C'mon, tell me! What do you have to show me?! Ne, ne, Tayuya-chan, what is it? Tell me!" Fed up, the redhead bopped him on top of the head, causing the boy to yelp out in pain.

"Shut the fuck up! You're annoying!" Naruto watched her stalk up the path to the house, pouting as he rubbed his head to lessen the pain. She was acting much stranger than usual. He looked back at the smirking jounin with a small frown stretched across his face.

"Anko-sensei, what's wrong with Tayuya-chan? She's been really quiet since yesterday." Laughing hysterically on the inside, Anko patted the boy on the shoulder. She knew it was wrong to be having this much fun at their expense, but the two of them were way, _way_ too cute for her to leave alone.

"Don't worry, you'll find out eventually." Keeping her hand on his shoulder, she led him up to the house, both men close behind.

They reached the house in another few seconds, finding the redhead already waiting impatiently in front of the door. She refused to look in their direction, instead occupying herself with glaring down at her feet. Tazuna inserted his key into the lock and pushed the door open with a small grunt.

"Come on in, make yourselves at home!" he said, closing the door behind them. There wasn't much to see inside the huge living room. A single couch sat stoicly in front of a large television, and a small wooden fan hung from the ceiling.

There were no pictures or decorations like there were at the man's regular home, and a fine sheen of dust littered the surface of every item in the room. Anko ran a finger over the nearest table, frowning at the large amount of residue that had appeared on the appendage.

"Whoa, you weren't kidding about the dust. If the rest of the house is as bad as the living room, it'll take a whole day to finish cleaning this place!" Tayuya's face dropped into a pout. If what the woman said was true, that'd mean one less day she could spend lounging in the sun. She looked over at Jiraiya expectantly, using only her eyes to convey what she wanted to tell him.

"I know, I know. Geez, this is why I hate kids," the sannin sighed, scratching the side of his head in annoyance. What was even more annoying was that he had become quite adept at receiving and interpreting the redhead's mental messages. He motioned towards the kitchen table, taking a seat himself at the head of it.

"I'll go open the windows around the house to help air the place out while you talk," Tazuna said, walking off down the hallway. Jiraiya nodded his thanks, and turning back to his traveling companions, began to speak.

"Before I talk about your training, first let me say how proud I am of both of you. I'll admit, when I first decided to take Naruto along on this trip, I didn't have high expectations. Your taijutsu level was that of an Academy student, and your chakra control was just plain pathetic. Not only that, but you lacked basic shinobi fundamentals and brainpower." The blond sniffed and looked away, crossing his arms in displeasure.

"Get to the point already!" Jiraiya chuckled under his breath, an amused smile appearing on his face.

"The point is, you've far exceeded my expectations of where I thought you'd be after six months. You're finally a real shinobi; not just physically, but mentally as well. You understand what's required and expected of you as a ninja, and you also have a pretty good idea of what to expect. Quite frankly, I'm impressed." Naruto grinned widely, eyes closing into fox-like slits. The beginnings of a blush appeared on his cheeks, putting a small frown on the adults' faces.

It was obvious that the genin wasn't used to compliments. The pure joy on his face was far too strong of a reaction for the few words of encouragement they'd given him. At that moment, the adults resolved to compliment both of the genin more often. Lightly shaking her head, Anko regarded the blond with a mildly smug smirk.

"Don't get too happy, brat. Most of this is because of Taya-chan." The redhead perked up a bit at the mention of her name, and the sannin nodded his head in agreement with Anko.

"That's right. Even though we told you what to do, Tayuya was the one who made sure you understood and mastered it. She's spent more time training you than the two of us combined, and is probably the main reason for your growth." Tayuya looked away from the group in embarrassment. She could feel all three of them staring at her -- the most intense gaze coming from Naruto.

"True, but she's also made some huge jumps of her own. As surprising as it is, her chakra capacity has probably _doubled_ since we began; so has her physical strength and proficiency with weapons. I'd say we're about ready to move on to the second phase of training. What do you think, Jiraiya?" Naruto turned to look at the man with wide, curious eyes. Now that he thought about it, the man did say that the first phase would only last around six months.

"I agree; however, it's only fair to warn you that everything you've been doing up until now is nothing compared to what we have planned for you next. Do you think you can handle it?" Tayuya snorted disbelievingly at the question. She didn't know why he even bothered asking; they all knew what his answer would be before he even opened his mouth.

"Yeah! I'll do anything to get stronger!" the blond yelled in a very Naruto-ish fashion. "So? What're we gonna be doing?" Jiraiya shook his head, also expecting the answer.

"Getting right to the point, aren't you, Naruto?" Both Jiraiya and Anko simultaneously reached into their jackets, producing two scrolls of equal size. "Over the last couple of weeks, Anko, Tayuya and I have been working together to come up with a suitable training regiment for the both of you. After the first day or two of discussion, Tayuya realized something important." The man looked over at the girl, waiting for her to finish his statement.

"What's the reason Orochimaru took the Uchiha in the first place?" she asked, speaking for the first time since they'd arrived. Naruto lifted his eyebrows a bit, staring at her as if the answer was obvious.

"To make Sasuke-teme into his new body. But what does that have to do with my training?" The redhead let a small bit of air escape through her nostrils in exasperation. Just when she'd thought he was getting smarter, too.

"Okay, let me put it this way; when you're learning a new technique or fighting style, what's the most important thing?"

The blond furrowed his eyebrows in careful thought. "Practice?"

Tayuya nodded her head. "And what happens when you practice?" Naruto's eyes squinted further. The answer was obvious, but somehow, he couldn't quite grasp what it was that she was trying to say. When you practiced a new jutsu over and over again, you got better at it, right? And if you practiced the technique enough, you'd eventually be able to perform the technique without a second thought.

The boy's eyes widened in understanding, and he snapped his head up to look at his teammate. "Muscle memory!" Although she tried not to show it, Tayuya had to admit that she was surprised he was able to pinpoint the exact phrase she was looking for. As if sensing her thoughts, he continued. "I read about it in that one mystery book. Remember? About the assassin who lost her memory but was still able to use all of her moves? Orochimaru's training Sasuke-teme to be just like him so that when he transfers to his body it'll already be like his own!"

The silence in the room was deafening. All three of the other shinobi stared at him in a mixture of wonder and awe, jaws hanging loosely at their hinges. Naruto's face fell in disappointment at their expressions, and he puffed out his lips into a small pout.

"I'm wrong?" Anko slowly shook her head in disbelief, placing an amazed palm against her forehead.

"No, you're _right_! _That's_ what's so amazing!" He was a bit miffed at the subtle insult, but he couldn't help the large grin that broke out on his face at her words. Before his head could inflate any further, the girl next to him continued on with her plan.

"Anyway, using that as the basis for your training, the three of us were able to put together a basic regiment for your eventual fight with the Uchiha. Since the three of us have been around Orochimaru for a shitload of time, we pretty much know how the faggot fights." Jiraiya tossed his scroll over to Naruto, motioning for Anko to do the same with Tayuya.

"With that said, the first thing we'll be increasing is your speed. While we don't believe that you'll be quite as fast as Sasuke given the amount of drugs and forbidden techniques he'll use, you should at least be fast enough to avoid most of his attacks. The conventional method is to use weights, so starting tomorrow morning, we'll be giving the both of you five pound weights for each limb. This may not seem like a lot right now, but once you strap them on, you'll understand exactly how heavy those things are." The man glanced at the blond's eager face with a smirk, fighting to keep from breaking out into a full grin. It was apparent that the boy didn't realize exactly how much work it would be to lug around all of that weight.

"Secondly, while you'll still be continuing in your taijutsu and meditation, we'll begin teaching you some ninjutsu. This also means that you're free to practice genjutsu." he said, nodding towards the girl to his left. If it was even possible, Naruto's grin grew to half its size.

"Really?!" he exclaimed, jumping to his feet in excitement. "You're really going to teach us new jutsus?! Like what?!" The redhead grunted her impatience, frowning up at the boy with as much malice she could muster.

She couldn't really blame him for being so excited; after all, it seemed like _years _since they'd last been allowed to even use chakra. Hell, it wouldn't surprise her in the least if her reserves were as large as Orochimaru's by now.

...Okay, so maybe she was exaggerating a bit. She didn't know how he did it, but somehow, the snake sannin had managed to give himself an absurd amount of chakra -- almost as much as Naruto. If she didn't know any better, she'd say the freak was a jinchuuriki himself. Luckily, she knew better.

"Nothing you need to be concerned about right now," Anko interjected, noticing Tayuya's impatient scowl. She was just as -- if not more -- eager to get down to the beach as her student. It'd been years since she'd had a decent vacation, and she fully intended to enjoy her summer in the Wave country. The Uzumaki visibly pouted, once again showing his childishness.

"Fine." Just as quickly as it'd appeared, the frown dropped off of his face entirely and was replaced by another eager grin. "What else are we going to learn?" The strange looks that were exchanged between his three teammates were alarming at best. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"As we mentioned earlier, Sasuke will probably acquire most -- if not all -- of the skills that Orochimaru himself possesses. Although not as widely known as his reputation for learning and creating forbidden jutsu, Orochimaru is also known to be fairly proficient with a sword. Based on the words of Anko and Tayuya, it seems that he's still practicing the same style he's used since he was a chuunin -- otherwise known as the hi no teisei style."

"Whisper of fire? Sounds kinda lame to me," Naruto murmured, nose scrunching up in distaste.

"Be that as it may, this style is nothing to sneeze at. If used correctly, the blade really does seem to light itself on fire; that is, if you're lucky enough to catch a glimpse of it before it's lodged into your skull." The jounin couldn't help but to smirk as her words had the desired effect on the genin. His face had noticeably paled from her description, causing his icy blue eyes to stand out even more than usual against his alabaster skin. "And that's exactly why we're going to teach it to you -- or at least, what we know of it." Despite still being a little out of it, the blond managed to tilt his head towards his instructor with curiosity.

"Wait, what's the point of me learning the same style from a worse teacher? Sasuke'll still kick my ass!" The sound of Tayuya's forehead banging against the tabletop promptly followed his question. She just couldn't understand him.

Sometimes, Naruto would show an amazing amount of insight, reaching conclusions faster than even her mind was able to. Others, it seemed as if he was still the same loud, idiotic genin she'd met over half a year ago. There was no rhyme or reason as to why this was, and the more she tried to figure it out, the more her head began to hurt. Even though she'd learned not to question why this was and simply accept it, it didn't make her any less annoyed.

"If you know what to look for in Sasuke's style, it'll be easier for you to counter it with your own," she scowled, unable to believe that she was explaining such a simple thing.

His eyes lit up in understanding, but quickly dimmed as he realized something important. "Wait, how are we going to find time to do all of this? It takes a whole afternoon for me to practice using the bastard fox's chakra!" For the first time that day, a small smile flickered across Tayuya's face. In contrast, however, Jiraiya's face dropped into an obviously displeased frown.

"At the insistence of Anko and Tayuya both, I've decided to delay the training of the Kyuubi's chakra. We don't want to draw too much attention to ourselves, and we certainly wouldn't want the villagers to begin to feel uneasy from all of the evil chakra."

"Plus, according to Taya-chan here, using the demon's chakra hurts him -- in more ways than one. She doesn't want to see him in pain, even if it'll help him get stronger in the long run." The stricken look on Tayuya's face was more than enough to send the jounin into an unstoppable fit of giggles. Not for the first time since they'd started their trip, the woman desperately wished she'd bought a camera of her own.

"B-bullshit! I didn't say that!" Tayuya screamed, abruptly standing up from the table. She didn't have to look at him to know that Naruto was staring at her in a mixture of surprise and awe. She was certain that her cheeks were dusted with at least a light pink -- if not a fire engine red -- of embarrassment. Fed up with the awkward silence that settled around them (not counting Anko's laughter), the girl angrily stomped her foot. "Screw this, I'm out of here!" she exclaimed, making a very angry rampage towards the door leading to the beach.

After another minute of silence, the blond slowly turned his head towards his obviously exasperated teacher. "So...is that it?" he asked, unable to suppress the hope that was shining in his eyes.

The man nodded slowly, a deep sigh escaping his frowning lips. "I suppose so. While I'd have liked to discuss the minor details of wh--" No sooner had the words 'I suppose so' left his lips did the genin dart out of the door his teammate had left through earlier, discarding his dark jacket along the way.

Jiraiya sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

"I hate kids."

--

Staring out at the gently swelling sea in front of him, Naruto couldn't help but to feel relaxed. The clear, white sand against his back pleasantly burned his flesh, contrasting perfectly with the cool, salty breeze floating around him. He was glad that Tsunami had had the forethought to give them a bottle of sunscreen, as he was certain that the sun's piercing rays would have thoroughly cooked him by now. He was vaguely aware of someone plopping down next to him, and cracking a reluctant eyelid open, turned to look at the perpetrator.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Jiraiya smirked, reclining next to his student in a similar position. his long, white hair made a makeshift pillow against the large beach towel beneath him, and his bright red swim trunks contrasted greatly with the blinding white of the sand around him.

Putting on a smirk of his own, the blond nodded his agreement. "Yeah, this place is awesome! I'll be sad when we have to leave."

Shocked, Jiraiya shot up into a sitting position, not bothering to hide his incredulous expression from the genin. "Not the beach, you idiot, the girls!" As if emphasizing his point, he waved his hand towards the ocean, drawing Naruto's attention towards the remaining two members of their group.

He sat up and tilted his head in curiosity as he watched them splash around in the ocean, uncharacteristically allowing themselves to let loose. Against his will, he felt his eyes drift towards the laughing redhead. Her thick, red hair was tied back in a long ponytail that easily reached the small of her back, and surprisingly, her smile was stretched wider than he could ever remember seeing it. Unknowingly, a wide smile of his own appeared.

Noticing this, the sannin's smirk grew. "I see you've taken quite an interest in Tayuya," he said, nudging the boy with his elbow.

The genin slowly nodded his head, leaning his chin on his crossed forearms. "She looks happy. I don't think I've ever seen her laugh so much." Of course, he wasn't counting the times when she was laughing at him. Even then her mirth only lasted for one or two minutes at the most, and shortly afterwards, she'd revert right back to her old, perpetually angry self.

A disappointed frown appeared on the man's face. There was only one reason a healthy young male couldn't see what he was getting at. "...Is there something you want to tell me, boy?" Naruto stared at his teacher in confusion. Not even a second later, his eyes widened as he gawked in disbelief at the older man.

"I'm not gay!" he yelled -- loud enough to draw the attention of the girls playing in the ocean. The genins' eyes met for a split second; just long enough for Tayuya to scowl and sink down into the ocean, hiding everything except her long red hair from view. The blond's eyebrows furrowed at her actions. "Is she mad at me or something?" he asked, turning towards the highly amused man at his side.

"Of course she is! She went through the trouble and embarrassment of getting a swimsuit for you, and you hardly said a word!" The sannin gravely shook his head, releasing a forlorn sigh through his nostrils. "I feel bad for the poor girl. After all, this is probably her first time even touching a bikini, and I bet she's more self-conscious than you or I could ever imagine." For the second time in five minutes, Naruto stared at him in quiet disbelief.

For all of his pigheaded and pervertedness, the man honestly seemed to know what he was talking about. While he'd usually question any advice he'd gotten about females from the sannin, the complete seriousness with which he'd spoken won the boy over. However, that still didn't help him in the end.

"So...what should I do?" he asked, unable to believe he was asking for help from the self-proclaimed super-pervert. "I mean, to make Tayuya-chan not mad at me anymore."

A large, mildly mischievous grin appeared on the old man's face, immediately putting his student on edge. "Simple; go over there and tell her you like her swimsuit. Even a girl like that loves to receive compliments." The blond eyed him suspiciously for a few more seconds, but when he didn't break out into evil laughter, Naruto hesitantly stood to his feet and began to walk towards his teammate, intent on making amends with his teammate.

"Uh oh, Taya-chan, you-know-who's coming this way," Anko said, gripping the younger girl's shoulder to get her attention.

Predictably, the redhead began to panic. "Tell him to go back!" She attempted to wade further away from the beach; unfortunately, she'd forgotten that Anko still had a death grip on her arm.

"Oh no you don't; didn't you buy this suit for Naruto?" Tayuya snapped her head around in open-mouthed shock, unable to believe the words that had spewed from the witch's mouth.

The day before -- _against her better judgement_ -- she'd asked the jounin to help her buy a swimsuit. Her original plan had been to grab a tank top and board shorts; conservative, but still loose and comfortable. Instead, she'd somehow allowed herself to be talked into buying a dark indigo bikini.

Of course, she'd been vehemently against getting anything that didn't cover more than at least half of her skin. There was no way she'd intentionally allow _anyone_ to get such an open view of body -- especially not Naruto. As she watched the boy approach, she cursed herself for getting drawn in by Anko's argument that a bikini would allow her to feel much more comfortable in the cool salt water of the sea.

And, she was right; The water felt great against her skin. So great, in fact, that she'd been thoroughly enjoying herself, completely forgetting about her idiotic teammate.

To her displeasure, Anko easily hefted her up into a standing position, glaring at her the entire time. "What're you hiding for? You've got a great body; almost better than mine!" the woman argued, unable to keep the small bit of anger out of her voice. To be honest, she didn't have much patience for people with low self-esteem, and she'd be damned if she let Tayuya suffer from the same things she herself did when she was her age.

The girl fought to escape the woman's grip, only to find that the jounin was much stronger than she looked. She matched Anko's glare with one of her own, curling her lip up in anger. "Fuck off! Not everyone wants to parade around like a piece of meat, showing everything off just so some faggot can get his rocks off!" she yelled, staring pointedly at the black string-bikini she was wearing.

Anko's glare softened as she stared into the redhead's fierce mahogany eyes. Not for the first time, she wondered exactly what had happened in the girl's life to warrant such a negative response to something so simple. "But you're not doing that, are you? The only ones here are Jiraiya and Naruto, and while I can't speak for Jiraiya, you know Naruto would never think of you that way; unless you wanted him to." She carefully released Tayuya's arm, watching as the girl seemed to consider her words.

After a few seconds of silence, Tayuya turned her head to look at the boy making a beeline towards their position. "I know." Smiling minutely to herself, Anko leaned back into a basic backstroke, floating away from the genin to give them some privacy. While she'd love to hear what they had to say, she figured it'd be a lot less awkward if she wasn't around.

Tayuya forced her arms to her sides to keep herself from covering up her body. What did she have to be ashamed of? Her swimsuit was particularly revealing; It more than covered her important parts, and was nothing like the bikinis you'd see in a Playshinobi magazine. Besides, it wasn't like she cared what he thought anyway; it wasn't like she'd bought it for him.

"Hi," Naruto awkwardly started, slowly covering the meager two feet between them.

The girl winced as her heart seemed to burst out of her chest, and she clenched her fist in an effort to keep it under control. "Hi." They stared into each other's eyes for a few tense seconds, neither one of them sure what to say.

Finally, he dropped his eyes to her suit before quickly bringing them back up to her face. "You look...great," he mumbled, putting on a sheepish grin. To his surprise, she returned the smile, her body relaxing as if a huge weight had just been lifted off of her shoulders.

"Thanks."

**AN: After so long, it's hard to write again / Give me a chapter or two to get my writing...legs... back. Or something like that.**


	25. Chapter 25

**The Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 25**

"Oi, chibis, speed it up! If you keep running that slow, I'll say you were cheating!" Anko yelled, flipping through her magazine in boredom. She looked up long enough to see if they had increased their speed any, and satisfied that they actually had, returned to her choice of reading material.

The large umbrella above her perfectly shielded her from the blisteringly hot sun, keeping her from being scorched by its unforgiving rays. The hesitant shuffling of someone approaching drew her from her reading, and glancing out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the young grandson of Tazuna holding a large glass out to her.

"U-um, Anko-san...h-here's your lemonade," he murmured, cheeks colored a deep red. The oversized bucket cap that he wore was pulled low over his eyes, perfectly masking which way his eyes were looking -- at least to the unskilled observer.

Unfortunately, for the boy, she was far from unskilled.

Casually adjusting the strap of her bikini bottoms, she pulled down her shades and shot the boy a seductive smile. "Thank you _so_ much, Inari-kun. You've been really helpful!" she said, playfully patting the boy's hat covered head.

Inari audibly gulped and nodded. "Do...d-do you want anything else?" he stuttered, fidgeting nervously under her mischievous gaze.

Anko placed a delicate finger on her chin in thought. "No, I'm fine. But how about you take a seat right here next to me?" She patted the small, empty area on the beach chair with an enticing smile. Unsurprisingly, the boy instantly appeared at her side, causing an even wider smile to appear on the jounin's face. Kids were so cute when they had a crush. Speaking of kids with crushes...

Her eyes unwittingly rolled towards the redhead sprinting along the beach. Tayuya had all the classic signs of a girl with a crush; constant staring, jealousy when talking to other girls, and just always wanting to be around the object of her affection.

Then again, she thought with a frown, those were also the signs of a person who had never had a true friend before. Shrugging her shoulders, she leaned back in her chair and returned to her magazine, resolving to think about such troublesome things another time.

Noticing the woman's relaxed pose, Tayuya scowled with animal ferocity. "Look at that bitch, drinking lemonade under an umbrella while we're over here sweating our asses off!" she panted, legs burning with exertion. She and Naruto had been running suicides up and down the beach for the past twenty minutes, and looking at her asshole of a sensei, it did not look like she felt guilty at all about making them kill themselves.

Normally, twenty minutes of suicides would not have been such a big deal. Hell, she could run them backwards if she had to. However, running twenty minutes of suicides in hot sand, under the blazing hot sun,_ with twenty pounds of added weight to each limb_, was nothing short of abuse bordering on torture. She immensely regretted asking to have their weights upgraded by another five pounds the day before.

Although she had never used training weights prior to this training trip, she was surprised to find that they were ridiculously easy to adapt to. Just slip on the training bracelet, snap in a five-pound bar or two, and then wait a week or so to add another. After moving from five to ten pounds in a week and ten to fifteen pounds in two more, she and Naruto both had felt they were ready to upgrade to twenty only five days after that -- hence their current predicament.

Anko had been vehemently against them adding so much weight so fast, claiming that they would only injure themselves by being impatient. Fed up with the constant bickering and fighting between the three shinobi, Jiraiya had proposed a contest; if they could run suicides for thirty minutes straight with the twenty pounds added on, they'd be allowed to continue wearing them. If not, they would have to wait until the jounin deemed them ready before they could move up again. While the idea had seemed fair at the time, the two genin had quickly realized just how badly they had been screwed over.

"C'mon, Tayuya-chan, it's only five more minutes! Hang in there!" Naruto grunted, chest heaving with exertion. Tayuya tugged angrily at the black forearm sleeves concealing her weights, wishing more than anything at that moment that she could drop the both of them right here and now. Every time they took a step, their feet would automatically sink into the soft, loose sand of the beach, making it_ that _much harder for them to run. Moreover, since the sun's rays had already heated the sand, it felt as though she was putting her bare feet into the burning embers of a dying campfire.

Suddenly, the kunoichi became painfully aware that Naruto was beginning to go faster; or, to be more accurate, that she was beginning to go slower. Her legs felt like lead, and she was certain that her heart was two seconds away from bursting into little, slimy bits.

"I can't make it! Not everyone has monstrous stamina like you, you know!" She glared at the back of his head, watching as he steadily pulled ahead of her. "Some of us have to be content with being normal humans!" Her frown deepened as he continued to move ahead of her, completely ignoring her words. "Oi!" Rather than answer her, he turned his head and flipped her off, angering the redhead further. What ever happened to friendship? Going down while fighting together? He was planning to upgrade his weights without her! "You mother--"

Using all of her remaining strength, she sprinted until she was neck and neck with the jinchuuriki, intent on kicking his ass at that moment. She felt hurt, betrayed, and pissed off, but most of all, she felt absolutely exhausted.

Her knees instantly began to buckle, and despite noticing that the ground was coming towards her at an alarmingly fast pace, she was barely aware that she was falling. Before she could land face first into the sand, a pair of strong, warm arms enveloped her, saving her from receiving a mouth full of sand. His relieved face suddenly appeared in front of her, eyebrows furrowed together with exertion.

"We made it, Tayuya-chan. Thirty minutes, without a doubt." To prove his point, Naruto lowered his watch to her face, showing her that it was currently thirty-one and a half minutes past the time they had started. Her eyes widening, she looked up into his mischievously dancing orbs with surprise.

"You bastard! You knew I'd try to kick your ass!" she breathed heavily, a smile spreading across her face despite her ire.

He matched her grin with one of his own. "Of course; I know everything about you." Just as quickly as it had come, her smile disappeared. She hesitantly averted her gaze, face shifting into an expression he had never seen her wear before.

"If you knew everything about me, I doubt you'd be touching me right now." The blond blinked down at her in confusion. Just as he was about to ask what she meant, Anko appeared behind them, clapping her hands to get their attention.

"Okay, okay, break up the love fest. You win; you can keep your weights at twenty pounds. Though, after all that running, I wouldn't be surprised if you were nearly used to them by now." At the positively evil grin on the woman's face, both Naruto and Tayuya's faces fell into realization. They had been fooled.

Although she was tired, thirsty, and on the verge of passing out, she still managed to form one last sentence before fatigue overtook her:

"...I fucking hate you."

--

For the fifty-third time in a row, Naruto formed the five handseals required to perform the** ikazuchi no dageki,** and for the fifty-fourth time in a row, he failed.

"Looks like your only affinity is wind after all," Jiraiya murmured, scribbling something down in his notepad. "With some practice and better chakra control, you _may_ be able to perform earth and water jutsus, but fire and lightning jutsus are most definitely out." He glanced over his notes and smirked, turning his gaze on the redhead watching from her spot next to Anko on the beach. "It's funny now that I think about it; Tayuya shows considerable talent in earth, fire, and lightning jutsus, but completely lacks skill in both wind and water. If you two stick together, you'll have all five elements covered." He paused for a second, smirking as he put together his next sentence. "In other words, you two complement each other perfectly."

In a rare show of intelligence, Naruto instantly noticed the double meaning of the man's statement. He scowled deeply, eyes narrowing into slits as he stared up at Jiraiya. "Tayuya-chan and I are friends; I'm in love with Sakura-chan, remember?" he asked, the question coming out as more of a statement.

Annoyingly enough, the man's smile only widened. "What are you talking about? I didn't say you _weren't_ friends. All I said was that you two made a great team; you're the yin to her yang, the dawn to her dusk, the peanut butter to her jelly, the--"

"Minato to her Kushina?" Anko cut in, striding up to them in a pair of shorts and a bikini top. Jiraiya's eyes immediately shot over to the jounin, displeasure evident on every feature of his face. She shrugged innocently, eyes twinkling with poorly contained mischief. "Hey, I couldn't think of anything else. Sue me."

Naruto glanced from Jiraiya to Anko uncomfortably, instantly taking notice of the tense atmosphere that had developed between them. "Who and who?" he asked, attempting to calm things down a bit.

Never removing his gaze from the woman in front of him, the man answered. "Two characters from one of my books. Apparently, Anko here is a fan." When she rolled her eyes in disgust, he waved a hand towards the redhead still watching curiously from under the beach umbrella. "Naruto, go tell Tayuya the results of your training."

He didn't have to be told twice. The words were barely out of the sannin's mouth before he was already jogging towards his teammate, glad to be away from the death match that would undoubtedly take place as soon as he had left.

"What do you think you're doing?" Jiraiya snapped; face showing not even a hint of amusement. "Before we started this mission, Tsunade and I both made it clear to you that Naruto's lineage was not to be revealed to_ anyone_ until he was ready; not even himself."

The twinkle in her eyes was gone, replaced by a mixture of disappointment and anger towards the Sannin. "And when is that supposed to be?"

"Whenever I say it is."

Exasperated, Anko crossed her arms under her chest, unable to believe the bullshit logic he was using to address the situation. "How do you think Naruto's going to feel when he learns that you've known who he and his parents were all along? Don't you think he would feel hurt? Betrayed? He may never want to see your face again!"

Jiraiya shifted his gaze towards the teenagers. "Keep your voice down. What he thinks of me is after the fact. Right now, it _is_ for his own good. The last thing we need is for him to let slip that he's the Fourth's son. For the time being, he only has the Akatsuki on his ass, but if Iwa and Kumo catch wind of his hidden lineage, they'll be after his head as well. Do you really want to put him -- no, strike that, _them_ -- in that kind of danger?"

Her eyes never wavered for a second, continuing to bore into the older man's as she expressed her displeasure with the situation. "Do I have a choice?"

"Not unless you want to be locked up for revealing village secrets."

Her frown deepened in disgust. "He'll find out eventually. I figured out his identity the first time I saw him, and although they don't act like it, I know some of the other villagers have as well. Minato was well known and liked while he was alive, and the older Naruto gets, the more he begins to look like his father. You can't hide it forever, and when the shit hits the fan -- and believe me, it will -- I'm going to be one of the people saying 'I told you so'." With that, she turned on her heel to walk back towards the teens, easily schooling her face into one of neutrality.

Jiraiya watched her go with an obviously displeased frown. He couldn't refute any of her points; Yes, Naruto deserved to know who his parents were, and yes, the boy would be pissed as hell when he finally _did_ find out. However, he was also right.

Only _he_ knew exactly how angry Iwa still was about the war. Even though it had happened over fifteen years ago, most -- if not all -- of the village held a bloody grudge against Konoha. Or, to be more specific, against the Fourth Hokage.

He had no doubt that Iwa would instantly attack the village if they found out about Naruto, despite having overall lower numbers and skill than Konoha. Luckily, it wouldn't be that big of a deal since the combined power of Suna and Konoha would easily crush the Hidden Stone.

However, if Kumo joined the war, that fact could easily put them all on equal footing. Their numbers were not especially large, but according to his data network, they housed two especially strong shinobi; so strong, in fact, that they were rumored to be jinchuuriki. While Konoha and Suna had a jinchuuriki each, there was no telling how much more skilled Kumo's were as compared to theirs. It was a risk he was just not willing to take.

His frown deepened considerably as he remembered another one of his many mission objectives. Infiltrating Kumogakure was not that big of a deal; the hard part was what came after that. Sighing deeply, he ran a tired hand through his hair, staring up at the sky in an attempt to clear his mind. There was no use worrying about all of this now; he was a man who prided himself on being relaxed and poised at all times, and he'd be damned if he let Anko's irresponsibility get in the way of that.

"What's up?" Tayuya asked as Anko approached. "You guys sounded like you were about to beat the shit out of each other or something."

The jounin's eyebrows shot up into her forehead. "You actually heard us?"

She slowly shook her head, wondering if she should tell Anko the truth or not. She could probably worm out a bit more information if she lied and said that she _had _heard something. "Only bits and pieces. Between me and Naruto, we figured out that whatever the fuck it was concerned him," she said, choosing her words carefully. She knew a little more, but didn't want to give up too much -- at least not until she had a bit more info to barter with.

"I'm surprised you guys got that much. We were at least a few dozen feet away, and the sea is pretty damn loud, too. You have good ears." She bent down to pick up her gear, tossing the items into the knapsack that she had borrowed from Tsunami. As she stood up to leave, she glanced over her shoulder to shoot Tayuya an evil smirk. "Nice outfit, by the way. Glad to see you've become comfortable with showing off what Kami-sama gave you."

Predictably, the redhead immediately closed in on herself, covering as much of her torso as possible. Although she was wearing a bikini top and shorts like Anko, it was obvious that she wasn't quite as confident about it as she had initially seemed. The girl looked over to see if her teammate had noticed, only to find the boy uncharacteristically lost in thought.

"Minato..." he murmured, eyebrows furrowed in concentration, "Why does that name sound familiar?" Confused, Tayuya tilted her head as she too tried to remember where she had heard the name, unconsciously allowing her body to relax into its original position.

"Minato? Isn't that the name of the Fourth Hokage?"

Naruto's eyes instantly widened in excitement, and he turned to her with a positively glistening smile. "You're right! That's where I've heard the name before! I remember Iruka-sensei mentioning it a few times when I was actually paying attention in class." His smile dimmed a bit as he remembered something important. "Then, who's Kushina? She's somehow related to the Fourth if what Anko said was right, and Ero-sennin seemed really upset when she brought them up." The girl scrunched her face up in thought, but she disappointingly failed to put a face to the name.

On the bright side, she had gained a little more information. Whatever they had been talking about obviously involved the Fourth Hokage, this Kushina person, and Naruto. Filing this information away for later, she stood to her feet and brushed off the excess sand on the seat of her shorts. "Don't know; anyway, we should probably head up to the house, too. It's getting late." The blond slowly nodded his head, following her up the wooden path leading to their temporary home.

--

Easily ducking under a particularly pathetic swing by her teammate, Tayuya frowned and hit him -- quite powerfully -- on top of his head with the edge of her wooden bokuto. The poor blond fell to the ground, desperately clutching his throbbing head in pain.

For her part, Tayuya was pissed. He just wasn't getting it! Instead of doing what both she _and_ Anko had told him, he seemed insistent on emulating a move he had seen on that shitty sword-fighting cartoon he liked to watch so much. She barely noticed that the thinner her patience became, the harder she was starting to hit him.

The style Orochimaru used really wasn't that hard to learn; There were only five basic stances and twelve different forms that they knew of, all of which were open to personal interpretation. While learning the stances went well enough, the forms seemed to be giving them problems.

Or, to be more accurate, they were giving _Naruto_ problems. She sighed and viciously scratched at her hair, wondering how to go about teaching the idiot how the style worked. Unfortunately, both Jiraiya and Anko were out shopping for supplies, so she couldn't ask either one of them for help. She was on her own.

"Look, watch me; play close attention to how low my center of gravity is, and if you don't get something, feel free to stop me at anytime. Okay?" she instructed, doing her best to keep the anger from spilling into her voice. The blond slowly nodded his head. At least he was being obedient, even if he did suck with a sword.

Tayuya settled into the first stance, spreading her legs wide and holding her bokuto above her head facing her opponent. Her arm was bent at a perfect ninety degree angle, and her other hand clasped the empty area where her sheath would be had she had a real sword.

Before he could blink, the girl stabbed the sword forward and brought it back, impaling her invisible opponent with absolute precision. She then released the sword in mid-air, spinning quickly to catch the weapon with her left hand and bringing the sword around for a deadly swipe across her opponent's torso, finishing the job in case he'd somehow managed to survive her first attack. Her breath came out in perfectly timed huffs, and smirking slightly to herself, began to settle into the second form of the first stance. This one was a little tricky, and --

"That was fucking _awesome_!" A shrill voice screamed, instantly breaking her concentration. She averted her eyes towards the hill of sand overlooking their training area, woefully unsurprised to see the troublesome trio staring back at her. Her eye twitched in annoyance at the word troublesome; the last person she wanted to remember was that pineapple-headed brat who called himself a shinobi.

"Aiko!" a second, older male voice yelled in horror, "Watch your mouth! How many times have I told you not use words you pick up from that harlot?!"

Tayuya's jaw dropped. _Harlot?! _She was a lot things: violent, ruthless, a bitch; but a harlot wasn't one of them. Clenching her weapon tighter in her small hands, she purposefully marched up the hill towards the dark-haired teen glaring back down at her.

"You say something?!" she seethed, pushing her face as close as she could to his. She reveled in the fact that the boy -- otherwise known as Musashi -- wavered slightly under her glare. It amused her that such a supposedly tough guy could be intimidated by a girl three-quarters his size; and she wasn't even releasing any killing intent!

A small, exasperated voice quickly cut into their staring match. "Quit it, Musashi! She's Naruto-nii-chan's friend, and you promised you'd be nice if I let you meet him. Remember?"

The teenager huffed, staring down at Inari with indignation. "That was before _she_ corrupted my little sister." The sneer he regarded her with pushed her dangerously close to the edge.

When they'd first started training here, she didn't mind having an audience; when it only consisted of Inari. She'd even go as far as to say that she liked having him around -- and that was a pretty big compliment coming from her, considering that she preferred to train without the distraction of having someone watching. He was pretty helpful as far as brats went, bringing them food and water from the house when they were far too tired to do it themselves. The only downside was that he was an avid Anko fan, something she _still_ couldn't understand.

Soon, however, he began to bring a young, dark-haired girl from his class with him to visit. Aika had initially wanted to meet 'The Great Hero Naruto,' but annoyingly enough, she'd become more entranced by Tayuya herself; something that still mystified her to this day. The grade schooler had followed her around every chance she got, rambling on about how cool she was and how she wanted to be just like her when she grew up -- which, admittedly, helped to swell her head a bit. Despite the mild annoyance of never having any time to herself or with Naruto, she decided it was a fine trade-off for her own personal cheering section.

Angrily adjusting her sleeve-covered arm weights, she began to think about when_ he'd_ first arrived. Apparently, Aika's language had taken a turn for the worst at home, so being the responsible big brother that he was, he started to accompany his little sister on her visits to the beach.

Also being the idiot that he was, he'd first assumed that she'd picked up her language from Naruto -- which was, she had to admit, a fair assessment given the situation. It had admittedly been amusing to watch the teen follow Naruto around like a hawk, but once he'd realized that _she _was the reason for Aika's bad language, things had taken a turn for the worse.

The bastard never left her alone! Every time she so much as _burped _he was there, chiding her for one stupid thing after another. It was getting to the point where she was actually afraid to even swear for fear of him bitching and moaning about how society was doomed because she was spreading her foul language amongst the younger generation; including his sister.

She was certain that she'd never met anyone more infuriating in her life. Sure, Kidomarou pissed her off with his constant pranks and the fatass Jirobou annoyed her with his constant sweating and huffing, but they weren't even _close_ to the amount of anger this lowly _civilian_ managed to instill in her on a daily basis. The fucker just didn't make any sense!

She couldn't, for the_ life_ of her, understand why he kept bringing his sister back every single day, _despite_ knowing that the grade schooler would pick up one or more of her most colorful phrases. The level of his stupidity even surpassed -- dare she say it -- Naruto's!

Unable to take it any longer, she held the sword up in her right hand. "This," she said, nodding towards the long piece of wood, "is going up your ass." If she weren't so angry, she might've found his expression hilarious. Before she could make good on her threat, Naruto quickly slipped his arms underneath hers and pulled her backwards, literally saving the boy's ass.

Unfortunately, this didn't sit too well with her. "Let me go! I've had it with this asshole!" she screamed, fighting in his grip. She struggled for a few more seconds, but after realizing that his hold was annoyingly solid, settled for shooting the older teen a venomous glare. The glare seemed to work on the two grade schoolers standing next to them, as they wisely took a cautious step back.

However, some people just never learn.

"Ha! That's just like a woman, all talk and no action! Just like I thought; only a _man_ can be a real ninja! Why don't you give up and do what you were born to do; take care of men!" The air surrounding them became noticeably tense. The blond's face became comically horrified as he stared at the dark-haired boy, unable to believe the words that had spewed from the idiot's mouth.

Shifting his gaze from Musashi to Tayuya, Naruto put on a nervous smile. "Ah...Tayuya-chan? What do you say we call it a day? It's getting late, and --"

"Naruto." The way she spoke sent chills up his spine. He'd only had the displeasure of hearing this particular tone of voice once, and hearing it again brought back painful memories of foot-to-balls induced trauma. "Let me go." When he didn't let go, she channeled her chakra into her arms and literally wrenched herself out of his grasp. As he was forced to release his hold on the girl's arms, he shot a wide-eyed stare towards the soon-to-be deceased civilian and mouthed one simple word:

'Run.'

The words had barely left his mouth before the redhead was on the poor young man, her fists a blinding typhoon of anger and hate as they descended upon his much larger frame. As blood began to appear on the girl's fists, the boy's screams gradually became less and less until there was nothing but horrified silence on the hill.

--

"No trips into town, no visitors, and outside of training, you're confined to your room for as long as we're in the Wave Country."

Tayuya's jaw dropped open in shock as she stared up at the purple-haired woman. "What?! This is bullshit! _He_ started it! Ask Naruto, it wasn't my fault!"

Anko sighed angrily, pinching the bridge of her nose with a forefinger and thumb. "You beat the boy into a _coma_, Tayuya! God, are you even aware of how serious this is?! It's one thing to get into a fight with a shinobi or bandit, but to get into an altercation with a _civilian_? And a_ teenage boy_ no less?! You were wearing thirty pounds on each arm! You could have _killed_ him!" She angrily chewed on her bottom lip, glaring down at the genin sitting on their temporary living room couch. "If it weren't for both Tazuna and Naruto vouching for you, they could have locked you up for something like this!"

Tayuya glared up at the woman in frustration. Was she even _listening_? She'd put up with the boy's shit for weeks; longer than she'd ever put up with anyone in her entire _life_! Shit, they were lucky she didn't wring the ugly fucker's neck like she'd originally planned! What was the big deal? He didn't look that particularly bad off when they'd taken him away, and she'd seen _plenty_ of people come back from much worse injuries. Granted, they were all shinobi, but that hardly made a difference. Even shinobi were human.

The girl's face hardened into a scowl. "If I was still with Orochimaru, this shit wouldn't have even been brought up." The temperature in the room noticeably dropped ten degrees. She regarded Tayuya with an ice cold stare, mouth drawn into a tight line of anger.

"If you think you're better off with him, go ahead and leave. I'll kill you before you can take even one step outside." The air in the room seemed to get even thinner as the kunoichi held each other's glare. Except for the occasional blink, neither one of them moved.

Finally, after nearly a full minute of silence, Tayuya stood to her feet to stare directly up into the jounin's eyes, face barely five inches away from the older woman's. "Fuck you." She turned and stomped her way up the stairs, making sure to slam the door after she had entered her room.

She was surprised to find that her heart was threatening to burst out of her chest; a feeling she'd come to associate with being within two feet of Orochimaru. While she'd like to think that she could escape the house if she really wanted to, she wasn't completely sure. Anko _was _the famous snake sannin's apprentice for awhile, and she'd never really seen the woman fight outside of training. It was quite possible that she did, in fact, possess the skills to make good on her threat.

She plopped down on her futon in an attempt to get her temper under control. Despite her earlier statement, she really didn't want to go back to her former leader. Not only had the bastard tried to kill her, but Naruto...

Her mouth twisted into a grimace at the thought of her knuckleheaded teammate. She couldn't imagine what he'd do if she decided to return to Orochimaru's side. He'd already lost one close friend to the man, and losing her might be the straw that breaks the camel's back. She could see it in his eyes every time they spoke; he _trusted _her. Trusted her to always be there for him no matter what the circumstances. It was the first time anyone had ever really relied on her, and she wasn't sure if she could forgive herself for letting him down like that.

She felt her eyebrows draw together in annoyance. No wonder shinobi laws discouraged becoming attached to others. Having friends really _did_ make you weak. A deep sigh forced its way out of her throat as she realized that it was too late to do anything about it now. A deeper sigh escaped her as she realized that she wouldn't do anything about it even if she could. Naruto had already manage to sink his claws into her a long time ago, and admittedly, just the thought of him not being there at all was enough to make her heart give a painful lurch in her chest.

"What do I do now?" she murmured to herself. Of course, she already knew the answer to this question; _behave like a good little girl until her sentence was over_. Her face dropped into another scowl at the thought of submitting to Anko's whims so easily. It wasn't her fault the pussy couldn't take a few punches, and it wasn't like he'd died or anything. As far as she was concerned, it was rightful justice for all the torment she'd endured since the bastard had arrived. Her body tensed up as the familiar feeling of someone approaching reached her senses. She hesitantly watched as one Uzumaki Naruto opened and closed the door behind him, a tired smile marring his normally energetic face.

"Hey, Tayuya-chan," he chirped, voice sounding a little more forced than usual. His normally perfect posture was obviously stooped, giving him the appearance of an old man with far too many troubles.

She felt her heart lurch again at his defeated form, feeling the beginnings of guilt beginning to pour into her soul. "Hey yourself." She winced lightly at how badly the words had come out. "So...how is he? Musashi, I mean." The brief flash of pain on his face told him all that she needed to know. "That bad, huh?" she asked, lowering her eyes towards her lap.

Noticing her depressed attitude, he quickly straightened up and waved his hands out in front of him. "He's fine, really! The doctors say he'll wake up in a few days; a week tops. In fact, they say he should be good as new in about a month. It's just that..."

The way he bit off his sentence alarmed her, and she snapped her eyes back up to his face. "What?"

"...Well, I don't think it'd be a good idea for you to go into town for awhile. Actually...maybe we should just hang out around the house for a couple of weeks. We've been to the beach every day since we got here, so it might be nice to take it easy indoors for a change." Tayuya's eyebrows arched in surprise. Anko had said nearly the same exact thing not even fifteen minutes ago, leaving her wondering how much the woman had said was out of concern for her safety as opposed to just being an over reactive bitch.

Glancing at his expression, she winced at the uncharacteristic seriousness he was regarding her with. "Are you mad at me?" she hesitantly asked, her eyes boring into his for an answer. The strained look she'd seen on his face earlier reappeared as he considered her question.

"I'm not _mad_," he started slowly, plopping down on her futon next to her, "But I'm kind of...disappointed. I didn't think you were like that anymore, you know?" With each word that left his lips, the redhead felt as if he was driving a metal stake deeper and deeper into her body.

"I'm _not_ like that anymore! He just kept pushing and pushing me and I kept getting madder and madder and then I -- well, hit him." She was a bit amazed that she was actually explaining herself -- and to _Naruto_ of all people! But she wanted him to understand her; he _had_ to understand her. And in that regard, she wasn't let down.

A small, relieved smile stretched across his face. "I believe you," he said, instantly putting her fears to rest, "It's just that sometimes, I get worried about you. I know you had to give up a lot when you became a Konoha shinobi -- and a genin, no less -- and sometimes, I feel like you might want to go back to how you were before. Like, back to being a feared, high-ranking shinobi who didn't have to worry about things like holding back or being careful of peoples' feelings." If she thought his previous disappointment hurt, his last statement had killed her.

Did he really think of her that way? That she'd willingly go back to her old life for a little power? What else did he think about her? How much did he know exactly? What wasn't he telling her? She placed a frustrated hand against her forehead, attempting to stop the stream of questions running through her mind. She needed to use her brainpower for better things right now.

"You're right, I did give up some things when I become a shinobi of your village. But you know what? I got a whole lot more. For one, I got my legs back. I also gained a new perspective on life, happiness, some people who actually _give_ some sort of a shit about me, and...a really good friend. A friend that I hope can trust me when I say that I'll never go back to being the person I was before, and a friend that I plan to one day tell all the things I've never told anyone else."

By the end of her speech, her eyes had quickly drifted from his eyes to the hands resting in her lap. There was no way she could say such embarrassing things while looking into those large blue eyes of his. Her entire body felt like it was on fire, and she was certain that even her toes were blushing by now. Then it happened. The feeling of two arms wrapping around her both surprised and scared her, but she instantly forced herself to relax in his embrace.

"Thanks," Naruto mumbled, leaning his chin over her shoulder. Oddly enough, she found the hug to be, well, comfortable. She leaned more heavily into his body, allowing her head to also rest gently on his shoulder. Her last coherent thought was that despite her earlier misgivings, hugs were actually kind of nice.

--

"Checkmate. I win. _Again_," Tayuya grinned. "That makes twelves games in a row; are you sure you don't want to give up?"

Naruto frowned deeply, mouth twisted into a thoughtful scowl. "One more." The redhead lifted her eyebrows at the simple declaration but shrugged her shoulders, already resetting the chessboard with practiced skill.

"Sure, why the fuck not? I'm still on house arrest, so it's not like I have anything better to do." She sighed sadly, glancing out the window at the beautiful blue sea below them. It'd only been a couple of weeks, but she was already missing the cool, refreshing water of the sea. They were forced to train in either the woods or beach directly behind the house; mostly because of the people periodically stopping by to voice their..._complaints_ for her thorough beat down of one of their own.

The first day after the incident had been especially bad. There were at least two dozen people crowded outside the gates of the summer home, all of them demanding a piece of the culprit. In a surprising show of people skills, Naruto had been able to talk them down, using words she didn't even think he'd heard before to defend her name. Though she'd never admit it, he had actually looked kind of cool; it was almost like getting a sneak peek of the new Hokage.

Of course, after they'd seen that it was a fifteen year old girl who had put the boy into a coma, their displeasure had quickly turned into a mixture of astonishment and embarrassment.

She could understand why; At four foot ten and ninety-eight pounds soaking wet, she didn't look particularly threatening. Especially when the boy she'd fucked up was nearly six feet tall and weighed every bit of one hundred and eighty pounds.

"Your turn," Naruto murmured, drawing her from her thoughts. She blinked and stared down at the board, surprised that they'd both already made five moves each.

She couldn't remember making any of them, and shaking her head, randomly moved one of her pawns towards the opposite side of the board. Even if she wasn't paying attention she could still beat --

"Checkmate!" Tayuya's jaw dropped in surprise. Quickly surveying the board, her face morphed into one of dread as she realized that she'd practically given him the win on a silver platter. Her last move had left her king entirely trapped and undefended, allowing him to easily place his queen in a position to make the kill.

Eyes narrowing, she immediately set about rearranging the board, intent on regaining her winning streak. Before she could make one move, however, Anko's voice wafted from the first floor of the house.

"Taya-chan, you have a visitor!" she yelled, a hint of amusement in her voice.

Raising her eyebrows in surprise, the kunoichi stood to her feet, shrugging lightly at Naruto's curious stare. "How the fuck should I know? I'm not supposed to be allowed to have visitors; not that anyone would want to see me anyway." The blond frowned at her statement, earning himself another shrug. "What? It's true. Be right back."

She exited the room and slowly walked down the stairs, curious as to who the hell would want to pay _her_ a visit. Her question was answered as soon as she reached the last step, and widening her eyes, she stared in surprise at the person waiting for her."...Musashi?!"

Anko smirked and walked off into the living room, leaving the teenagers alone in front of the door. "Make sure you apologize properly, Taya-chan!" Tayuya scowled at the woman's back, using her middle finger to pull down her lower eyelid as she stuck out her tongue.

"Vulgar as usual," the young man sighed, shaking his head in exasperation.

Her frown deepened. "Did you want something?" Despite what Naruto had told her before, she wasn't expecting him to look _quite_ this bad. The skin on his face that she could actually see was discolored with bruises and cuts, and the amount of bandages covering his head were astounding. In fact, he vaguely reminded her of Orochimaru when he'd first transferred into that random underling's body.

The teenager motioned for her to follow him outside, holding the door open so that she could step through it first. Although his face was a horrid mess, the rest of his body seemed to be perfectly fine.

"I don't need you to hold the door open for me; besides, how do I know you won't try to stab me in the back or something?" Not that it was possible. She'd impale him with his own knife before he even had a chance to pull it from his pocket.

"Hey, I'm just doing what my mother taught me -- even though you're not exactly a girl." While most females her age would be insulted by the comment, Tayuya felt an odd sense of pride welling up within her. The further she was from a normal girl, the better; at least in her opinion.

Shaking his head, he led her down from the house to the beach, being sure to keep a cautious eye on the kunoichi walking behind him. While he was confident that she wouldn't beat him up again, he also wasn't stupid. As he'd found out first hand, the redhead was a ticking time bomb just waiting to blow up, and the slightest sound or movement was more than enough to set her off. However, that didn't change what he was about to do.

Turning abruptly, he stopped on top of the hill overlooking their training area, eyes narrowed into thin slits. The girl barely managed to avoid running him over, and taking a cautious step back, met his glare with one of her own. "What, you wanna fight?" she asked, raising her fists in a mocking fashion.

Musashi's frown deepened. "You ruined me. With my size, I've never been beaten so badly in my _life_; worse, it was by a _girl_. They try to act like they're not, but I know everyone's laughing at me behind my back -- and it's all your fault." He took an angry step forward, lifting his arms to roughly grip her upper arms in an attempt to keep her from moving.

An amused laugh choked its way out of her throat. "You think holding my arms will keep me from kicking your--" before another word escaped her lips, the older teen lowered his slightly bruised lips to hers in an awkward kiss, shocking the kunoichi into stunned silence. He pulled back a few seconds alter, grinning a bit at the wide-eyed expression on her normally scowling face. Realizing that she wasn't going to beat him up (at least yet), he took a deep breath and uttered the one phrase Tayuya thought she'd never hear in her life;

"I love you."

--

**Ikazuchi no dageki - Thunderstrike; Strike of the thunder.**

**AN: Many thanks to Kouryuo Sabre and Shelby for proofreading! It probably shaved DAYS off of the update time xD **


	26. Chapter 26

**The Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 26**

Tayuya sighed as she gazed out into the deep, foaming sea beneath her, sea blue eyes dazed and unfocused in thought as she leaned on the metallic railing of the ship. Her short, dark blond hair blew powerfully in the breeze, wrapping languidly across her eyes and lips in a silky embrace. It didn't take a shinobi to see that she was lost in thought.

Her expression constantly shifted between anger and embarrassment; both emotions due to the surprise kiss Musashi had given her two days ago. Not only had he stolen her first kiss from a boy, but he'd had the _nerve_ to ask her to abandon the training trip in favor of settling down with him in the Wave Country.

She had, admittedly, briefly considered what it'd be like to give up her life as a ninja and instead live as a housewife. They were right next to the beach, Musashi's family was pretty well off (for such a small town), and the town itself was pretty nice once you got used to it. She could actually see herself becoming a normal housewife -- maybe even raising a kid or two once she got old enough.

Luckily, though, her common sense kicked in just in time to remind her that this was the same boy whom she'd beat into a coma barely three weeks ago. Now, she'd dealt with her fair share of freaks in her short lifetime, and it didn't take much to notice the signs of a natural masochist. While she had been disturbed by this realization, she wasn't disturbed enough to let him off the hook with nothing less than a severe ass-kicking.

Because he was on_ their_ property and had called _her_ out, no one had come down too hard on her for her actions -- especially since he was already beaten and bruised from her first attack. His new bruises easily blended in with the old ones, and she'd pulled her punches just enough to avoid putting him into another coma. Sure, she'd accidentally broken both of his forearms (which he had been using to shield his face from further harm), but she thought she'd done well; Naruto, however, apparently didn't share her view.

He'd barely uttered a word when she apologized for losing her temper again, something that was more than a little strange for the usually obnoxiously loud blond. Even stranger was the frown that seemed to be permanently etched into his face.

She'd never admit it, but it was a bit unnerving to not see the boy smiling. His anger didn't seem to be directed at her, per say, but she could tell that it had something to do with her. Every time their eyes met the genin would quickly avert his gaze, almost as if he didn't even want to look at her. Although it had only been a couple of days, it felt like she hadn't spoken to him in _years_.

Her thoughtful frown deepened into anger. She was getting a bit tired of dealing with Naruto and his rapidly changing moods. Unlike her former teammates whom only had one mood (pissed off), the blond could cycle through _dozens_ within a period of twenty four hours. it was getting to the point where she wasn't sure of which Naruto was the real Naruto! One thing she could be sure of, though, was that he definitely wasn't the same boy she'd left with over half a year ago.

Her right ear twitched only slightly as the sound of footsteps reached her ears, and recognizing them as those of her bitch of a sensei, inwardly groaned.

She knew it'd only be a matter of time before she was found, but she didn't think it'd be _this_ soon. There were three decks on the transport; all of which were packed with people on their way to the Lightning Country.

Along with her hair and eye color, she'd used the genjutsu to increase her height by a few inches and changed her skin color from a mildly orange tan to a very light peach. She'd modified her appearance shortly after boarding the ship, diving into the crowd in a desperate attempt to separate herself from the three other shinobi accompanying her. Both Anko and Jiraiya had been asking her the same exact question during their journey from the beach house to the Wave Country's main docks, and quite frankly, she was sick of it.

As if knowing exactly what the girl was thinking, Anko leaned her back against the railing, bristling slightly as the hot metal met the bare skin of her back. "Are you going to tell me what happened? I'd really like to know why you beat him up a second time."

Waving her hand, the genin dispelled the illusion. There was no use wasting her chakra by keeping it up now that she'd been found. She briefly considered using the shunshin no jutsu to put some distance between them and try it again, but Anko now knew that she was using a genjutsu to hide herself; it wouldn't be too hard for the woman to find her again.

"Fuck off already. I didn't beat him into a coma, did I?"

The jounin sighed. Dealing with teenagers and their mood swings was not her forte; things like this were better suited to gentle people like Shizune.

"Then, at least tell me this; did you have a reason for hitting him again? Did he physically touch you? You at least owe me an explanation for ending my vacation early." Tayuya froze. What did she_ think_ happened? There were many different ways the question could be interpreted, and she wasn't sure what exactly the woman was getting at.

She did, however, understand why Anko wanted an explanation. After she'd beaten the boy up for the second time, Jiraiya had decided that it'd be best for them to move on lest they tarnish Konoha's reputation further. Needless to say, Anko had been thoroughly pissed off about losing nearly two weeks of her precious vacation time, expressing her anger by constantly hounding the girl for answers.

Tayuya slowly turned her head to meet the kunoichi's eyes, deciding it was better to just get her off of her back for the time being. "...Yeah."

Anko nodded her head, seemingly satisfied with the answer. "Okay, I'll let you off for the time being. But...was it really worth the beat down you gave him?" The girl scowled, instantly giving her her answer. "I guess that's a yes." She leaned her head back to stare at the sky, blowing a long purple bang out of her eyes. "By the way, you might want to make up with Naruto while you still can."

The genin absentmindedly nodded her head, turning her eyes back to the sea below her. Things had gone well enough with Anko, so maybe when she talked to--

"Wait, what do you mean _while I still can_?!" she exclaimed, head snapping back around to look at the jounin.

Anko let loose a small breath, unsure of how to answer the girl's question. "While you were off brooding, Jiraiya called an emergency meeting. Turns out he and Naruto are going to infiltrate Kumogakure in an attempt to gain some information about their village. His data network had a large scale breakdown a couple of months ago, and since we were somewhat in the area, he decided to fix things himself."

The redhead glared up at her, pushing herself away from the metal railing. "What?! Why can't we go too?! If he thinks _Naruto_ can get into the village undetected, it should be a hundred times easier for you and me!"

She frowned at the girl. "Isn't it obvious? The more people there are, the greater the risk of being discovered. I wouldn't pick Naruto as my first choice either, but apparently, he's the most vital part of the mission. In any case, once we reach the outskirts of the village, we'll be splitting up into two groups. That gives you just over a day to say your goodbyes and whatever else you need to do to him. Don't waste what little time you have."

Leaving Tayuya to her own thoughts, Anko stood up and walked towards the other side of the ship, easily blending into the large crowd of travelers on the wooden deck. She'd thought about forcing her student to talk to Naruto, but the redhead had never taken too kindly to being forced into things. She glanced over her shoulder one more time and sighed. Dealing with teenagers definitely wasn't her speciality.

--

"...Two-hundred and fifty-nine, two-hundred and sixty, two-hundred and sixty-one, two-hundred and sixty-two..."

Tayuya watched nervously as Naruto performed his daily training ritual, trying her best to find a good time to interrupt. As pathetic as it was, she hadn't been able to work up the courage to talk to him all day. His body language was obviously saying 'Stay the fuck away from me', and being unused to the standoffish aura he was emitting, she wasn't quite sure how to approach him.

Giving up for what seemed like the millionth time that day, she fell back onto her bed with a sigh, closing her eyes in annoyance. Watching the blond do pushups on the hardwood floor of the room was just making her _more_ nervous, if that was even possible.

Since both Jiraiya and Anko were off attending the ship's complimentary dinner and ball, the two genin were pretty much left alone to do whatever they wanted -- which would normally be a good thing if Naruto wasn't acting like a grade-A asshole. Feeling slightly nauseous from the somewhat rough swaying of the boat, the redhead once again sat up to stare at her teammate.

"...Two-hundred ninety-seven, two-hundred ninety-eight, two-hundred ninety-nine, three hundred!" Naruto gasped, falling to the floor in fatigue. His tongue hung out of his mouth in an amusingly overexaggerated fashion, causing Tayuya -- despite her nervousness -- to giggle lightly under her breath. "Hey! Are you laughing at me?!" he scowled, childishly poking out his lower lip.

Feigning shock, she placed her hand over her chest in an equally exaggerated manner. "Why, Naruto, you know me better than that! Are you suggesting that someone as delicate and tender as I would laugh at your obvious exhaustion?" When a wry grin stretched across his face to match her own, her eyes blinked in surprise at how easily the tense atmosphere between them had been broken. She quickly recognized this as her chance, and subconsciously leaning towards the still gasping blond, furrowed her eyebrows into what she hope was a serious expression. "Are you mad at me for beating up Musashi again?"

Naruto blinked. "Wow, that was straight forward."

The redhead's concerned frown dropped into displeasure. "Well? Are you or not?" Suspiciously, his eyes quickly darted away from hers.

"I'm not. What makes you think I'm mad at you?"

If it was possible, Tayuya's jaw seemed to literally drop into her lap. "Uh, gee, I don't know. Maybe because you haven't said one fucking word to me in three days?!" When his eyes continued to stay focused on the invisible object to his left, she huffed loudly and shrugged her shoulders. "Forget it. I don't care anymore. If you want to beat around the bush like a pussy, that's fine with me." She angrily threw herself back onto her bed, glaring up at the spiraling pattern of the ceiling.

What the hell ever happened to communication?! He told her his concerns and misgivings, she acknowledged them and apologized, and bam; problem solved. What was he being so stubborn about?! It had already been established that the second time wasn't her fault, and he was supposed to trust her when she said she had a good reason. Isn't that what they'd talked about after the first ass-kicking? For him to get all moody and mistrustful over something as trivial as a couple bruises and broken bones was idiotic at _best_!

"...Hey, Tayuya-chan, you've kissed someone before, right?" Naruto mumbled, voice barely reaching the girl's ears.

Her eyes widening, she shot back up into a sitting position, giving "W-what?! How--why the fuck are you asking me something like that?!" She didn't have to see them to know that her cheeks were burning.

The blond stiffly shrugged his shoulders, eyes still solidly focused on that same goddamn nonexistent item. "I dunno, I just thought you would. I mean, just in case you have, what did it feel like? Did you suddenly like...fall in love with the person after you did it?"

Contrary to popular belief, Tayuya was not a very superstitious person. She didn't believe in fortune telling, omens, horoscopes, bad luck, nor fate. As such, and unfortunately for Naruto, she didn't believe in overwhelming coincidences either. "You followed me."

His face morphing into horror, he quickly hopped to his feet and waved his hands in front of his face. "N-no I didn't! I was just...wondering!" On the inside, the blond winced. He knew he sucked at lying when it came to his precious people; and next to Sakura-chan, Tayuya was by far one of the most precious.

Rather than immediately blow up like he expected, the girl's mouth simply formed an obviously displeased straight line. "Why?"

He sighed and hung his head slightly, finding his toes much more interesting than the intense glare he was currently receiving from Tayuya. "I don't know. I was just worried."

"You mean, you didn't trust me."

Surprised, Naruto snapped his head up to look at her with wide eyes. "It's not that! When I saw it was Musashi who came to see you, well, I didn't know what he'd do! I mean, you _did _put him into a coma."

"So now you're saying I'm too weak to protect myself from a fucking cripple?!" The slight irony of her words weren't lost on either of them.

His face descended into an annoyed expression, easily matching the one stretched across his teammate's face. "You know what I mean!"

An odd, mild burning sensation in the bottom of her stomach fueled her rage, pushing her closer and closer to the edge of sanity. "Yeah, I know exactly what you mean! You followed me because you obviously didn't believe a goddamn word I said about not being the same person I was before!" Hot tears prickled at the back of her eyeballs, but she refused to let them fall. She'd be damned if she allowed herself to show weakness in front of him ever again; she should have learned her lesson after Orochimaru had tried to kill her all those months ago.

The blond's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and anger. She was flying off of the handle about nothing, and it wasn't making sense. "Why is it such a big deal?! Why can't you trust me when I say I was just worried about you?!"

"You know what?! Fuck you! Don't try to pass it off as being worried about me! That shit might work on stupid cunts like _Sakura-chan_, but _I'm_ smarter than that! I can tell the difference between being worried and just being mistrustful!" she spat, making sure to put a little extra venom on the girl's name. She was angry, hurt, and betrayed, so she'd use anything and _anyone_ to give him even a little bit of the pain she felt.

Naruto's eyes darkened. "Don't talk about Sakura-chan like that. You aren't even half as smart as she is."

The words barely phased her as she became more and more upset, and rolling her burning mahogany eyes, she choked out a pitiful laugh. "Oh, I'm sorry, you're right. _I'm_ the stupid one for believing all that bullshit about trust and friendship in the first place! Every fucking one of you are the same! All of you! You act like you like me, like you fucking care about me, but then you do shit like this behind my back as soon as I feel like I can trust you! I fucking _knew_ this shit would happen! I can't _believe_ I let myself get pulled in by your fucking fake words about precious people and making everyone recognize you!"

"Well, guess what?! You don't have to hear them for a whole fucking year! Aren't you happy?! Now you can go back to Wave Country and marry Musashi like you wanted to in the first place! I saw you think about it, so don't let me hold you back; in fact, I support you!"

The girl's face morphed from anger into shock. She'd heard that he was leaving for a mission, but she _hadn't_ heard that it'd be a year long. What the hell was he going to do for a year? What was _she _going to do?! Her heart thumped painfully in her chest, and she hesitantly stood to her feet. "Wait..."

"I guess this is the thanks I get for being concerned about someone I _thought _was my best friend. Maybe you're right; maybe my words _are_ fake. Maybe it's just me trying to fool myself into believing that I can make up for all those years of being alone by surrounding myself with as many friends as I can right now. Sorry for assuming that you'd be one of the most important ones." When she didn't say anything, he scowled and walked towards the door. "Screw it, I'm going back to my room."

By the time she opened her mouth to stop the blond, the door had already slammed shut behind him. She stared at the dark slab of wood for what felt like hours, hardly believing what had just taken place.

It wasn't supposed to go like that.

Things were supposed to be fixed by now; they were supposed to be having fun and making the most of their last night together, not screaming at each other! She clenched her fists in anger, wishing that Musashi was in front of her so she could kick his ass to relieve some of her rage.

Things never went the way she wanted it to. She should've known better; she always hoped for too much, only to be let down in the end. Suddenly feeling exhausted, she plopped back down onto the bed and turned towards the wall, glaring holes into the brushed aluminum of the boat's walls. She didn't want to calm down.

In fact, she wanted to go into the next room and bash the idiot's face in for saying all that mean shit to her. He should've known that she didn't mean any of what she'd said; they had been together for over eight months, so it wasn't like he couldn't tell when she was being serious or not.

She wrapped her arms around her knees and deepened her scowl. It wasn't her fault at all. It was _his_ fault for not trusting her. Wasn't that how this whole thing started? Because he'd followed her? It was only natural to be angry about something like that.

That's how Anko found her, pissed off and curled up into a ball with her back to the door. Sighing deeply, she shed her trenchcoat and sat down on the bed next to the girl. "You're hopeless, you know that?" Unsurprisingly, Tayuya didn't answer. "What did you do?"

Without so much as a twitch, a slow, wavering question floated from the genin facing the whitewashed wall of the room. "Why do you always assume it's my fault?"

The woman paused momentarily to consider what she was about to do. Very few people knew anything about her early life, and she didn't particularly like recounting the darker days of her adolescence. Shrugging a fishnet-covered shoulder, she tentatively decided that a cliffsnotes version should suffice. "Although it's embarrassing to admit, I was very similar to you at my age. After Orochimaru ditched me, I spent most of time blaming everyone else for my anger -- most often those closest to me. for awhile, I believed that everyone was an enemy, or had an ulterior motive. I lost a lot of friends that way."

The teenager grunted loudly, still refusing to look at her teacher. "Am I supposed to feel better about myself or something?"

"No, you're supposed to feel worse. Look, I won't pretend to know what your life's been like, and quite frankly, I don't give much of a damn. However, I _don't_ want to see you do something stupid and end up regretting it for the rest of your life. I can't _make_ you do anything, but I really do think it would be in your best interest to at least attempt to make up with Naruto."

Finally moving, she rolled over to glare at Anko. "Because I won't see him for a year?"

Anko blinked in mild surprise, a little put off by the girl's question. She'd been hoping to keep it as a secret; at least for the first couple of months until Tayuya got used to being without Naruto. "So he told you."

"Yeah, he did."

"Well, all the more reason to see him off on good terms. If you're not careful, some Kumo slut will dig her claws into him." Despite herself, a small grin appeared on Anko's face at the brief flash of anger that flew across her student's face. She was so dishonest with herself that it was almost cute. "Think about it, okay? I'm going to take a dip in the pool." Without so much as a warning, the woman stripped off her clothes and pulled on her bathing suit, causing Tayuya to turn her head away in disgust. Even if they were both females, she didn't like to make a habit of seeing Anko nude.

With a final, cheeky wave, the jounin slipped out the door and headed towards the deck below, glad to be away from the air of gloom surrounding Tayuya. She reached the pool in a matter of minutes, and not sensing anyone else around, carefully slid into the large, heated body of water. She considered swimming a few laps around the pool to work off the insane amount of food she'd eaten that night, but decided against it; it'd burn itself off after a good night's sleep anyway.

A light, mildly creepy giggle hovered from an especially dark corner of the pool area, instantly grinding against her nerves. So much for relaxing. Closing her eyes in annoyance, she glared pointedly at the shivering shrub to her left. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not naked right now."

Shortly after she'd spoken, Jiraiya appeared from behind the suspiciously placed bush, obviously displeased with her statement. "Damn. They should really install hot springs into these things."

"So, trying to get away from Naruto's depressing atmosphere?" she asked, not so subtly ignoring his statement.

The old man frowned deeply, crossing his arms over his chest. "As I thought, it has something to do with Tayuya. I'm far too old to be dealing with teenagers and their hormones."

Anko barked out a short laugh, remembering how she'd thought the same exact thing not even twelve hours ago. "Tell me about it. My guess is that Taya-chan started it; She was probably a bit anxious about being separated from her best friend." The mirth quickly leaving her face, she tilted her head back to look at Jiraiya with an equally displeased frown. "Does it really have to be a year?"

Already predicting the question, Jiraiya silently sighed to himself."Give or take a couple of months, yes. The truth is, I'm not expecting it to take more than seven or eight. Then again, one can never be sure when it comes to human emotions. They may even kill him outright under suspicion of being a spy."

She openly gaped at him, pushing herself away from the pool wall to turn around and look him straight in the eyes. "...And...you're putting him at that sort of risk...why?!"

"Like I said before, he's the only one I know that can do it. As you've seen first hand, he has the ability to win over practically anyone; even the most violent and ruthless of people will eventually come to like the boy. I'd even go as far as to say that _Orochimaru_ would like him if they were given a few months together."

She brushed off his statement about Orochimaru with barely a blink, continuing to glare at the white-haired man. "I understand your reasoning, but Naruto's just a genin. You honestly can't expect him to fool an entire village of shinobi, can you?" she asked, unconsciously raising her voice a level.

"He won't necessarily be fooling them. He'll be living amongst them to get a feel for their ways, and most importantly, to find out if there are any jinchuuriki in Kumogakure."

Anko rolled her eyes in revulsion. "So you're using him as a demon radar device. Nice."

Jiraiya's eyes hardened in anger. "Regardless of how you feel on the matter, that's the way it's going to be. When we started this mission, Tsunade and I told you that--"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Geez, do you have to bring that up every single time I disagree with you?!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air.

"Yes, because it's the most effective way of ending the argument."

She huffed and looked away, crossing her arms under her chest. "Point taken." Realizing that she'd lost this battle, she sighed and turned her eyes on the toad sage once again, a pleading frown marring her normally mischievous face. "Can you at least promise me that you won't let Naruto get into anything too dangerous? If you don't, well, I'd hate to see what Tsunade-sama has to say about something like this," she threatened, knowing full how much Jiraiya feared his well-endowed teammate. Predictably, the old man's face visibly paled at the thought of the kind of damage the Hokage would do to him if something happened to Naruto.

"Fine, I suppose I can guarantee that much. Just remember that he's still a shinobi of Konoha, and doing missions like these is also a part of being a ninja." With that, the old man exited the pool area, effectively ending the conversation before she could get another word in.

As soon as she was sure that he'd left, she sunk down into the water with a scowl, leaving only her face above the surface. "Pompous asshole."

--

The trail leading to Kumogakure was deathly quiet as the four shinobi trudged towards their destination. Both Naruto and Tayuya were walking with obvious stiffness, eyes darkened with fatigue and anxiousness. It didn't take much more than a glance to see that the two of them hadn't gotten a lot of sleep the night before.

Frowning at the uncomfortably tense atmosphere, Anko pasted on a smile and threw her arms around the genins' shoulders. "Hey, why the long faces? It's only a year, and the next time you see each other, you'll both be older and stronger! I can't wait to see you two spar the next time we meet; I wonder who'll win?" Her eye twitched in mild annoyance as her question was quite ignored.

The redhead roughly pushed the woman's arm off of her shoulder, shooting her a glare that she hoped was menacing enough to make her back off. "What the fuck're you talking about? I'm gonna win easily, just like last time."

Naruto's eyebrows shot up into his forehead as he snapped his head around to look at her. "What?! Last time was luck, and I _let_ you win!"

Tayuya snorted and crossed her arms, a small smirk appearing on her face as she did so. "Which is it? You can't say that it was luck _and _that you let me win. Dumbass."

He opened his mouth to retaliate, but quickly realized that she was right. With a frown, he shut his mouth and stuck his tongue out at her in a very Naruto-ish fashion, earning himself another snort from the girl walking on the other side of Anko. "Yeah well...you'll see! When I come back, I'll be way, _way_ stronger than you! I'll know like...like a thousand jutsus! And I'll use five swords! No, ten!"

As the teens argued, neither one of them noticed the discreet smirks and thumbs up the two adults were sending towards each other. It would have been horrible for the kids to part on such bad terms, but watching them trade verbal blows made them both feel as if everything would be alright; well, as alright as things could be given the situation.

Fighting to keep from laughing at her teammate's 'fierce' declaration, Tayuya lifted an amused eyebrow. "Ten swords? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life, and you've said a lot of stupid shit since we've been hanging out." Her face immediately soured after spoke. She'd inadvertently reminded herself -- and apparently Naruto too, as his face also dropped into depression -- of the fact that the two of them wouldn't be seeing each other for a long time. Or, if things went bad with his mission, ever again.

"Geez, just when things were going so well," Anko mumbled to herself, lazily rolling her eyes. "Okay, okay, lets not get all bitchy and moany again, alright? We should be getting fairly close to the village border, so --"

"Actually, we're already here." The entire group paused to stare at the man.

Being the first recover from the shock, the jounin opened her mouth to speak. "...Are you serious?"

Jiraiya nodded his head, a mild frown on his face. "I'm afraid it's time that we split up. Going any further together could jeopardize the mission."

The woman sighed deeply. She was hoping they'd have another half hour together at the very least. "Fine. Then, let's give the chibis a few minutes alone to say their final farewells." She stepped forward and enveloped the blond in a quick hug, purposefully pushing his face into her fishnet-covered breasts with a smirk. "Later, Naru-chan. Don't cheat on Taya-chan while you're away!" With that, both Anko and Jiraiya nodded towards each other turned around and headed in opposite directions, leaving the teens to catch up whenever they finished.

The genin stared at each other shyly, melancholy and loneliness evident on their features. Now that they were actually parting for good, the weight of the situation was finally settling in. A year was a long time to be apart; hell, they hadn't even been together for that long!

To her surprise, the blond slowly wrapped his arms around her in an awkward hug, giving her a warm, pleasant feeling in the bottom of her stomach. "See ya...Tayuya-chan," he muttered into her hair. He knew she could feel his heartbeat against her chest, and if he didn't know any better, he'd think that Jiraiya and Anko both could feel it from their position a few yards away.

Swallowing heavily, Tayuya too wrapped her arms around him, gripping him tighter than she ever had before. "...Yeah, see you." She gave the mental command for her arms to let go, but annoyingly (and somewhat unsurprisingly), they refused to heed her demand. It seemed that Naruto was having the same problem, as he still hadn't managed to release his own arms from her waist. Finally, the blond moved -- though not in the way she expected.

Something smooth, firm, and moist brushed against her cheek, sending flames throughout her veins. Before she could figure out what had happened, he quickly slipped out of her arms and scampered a few feet away, face a light red with embarrassment.

Her own face heating up, she pointed a disbelieving finger in his direction. "Did you just--"

"Yep! see you next year, Tayuya-chan!" he called, waving his arm wildly as he backed away from his still shocked teammate.

She watched in a mild state of detachment as Naruto turned to follow his teacher down the path leading to Kumogakure, a suspiciously cheerful skip in his step.

**AN: I don't think I've ever had so many death threats in my life. I now look over my shoulder every time I go outside. THANKS A LOT GUYS. ;-;**


	27. Chapter 27

**The Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 27**

Loosely gripping the handle of her katana in her right hand, Tayuya smoothly brought the edged weapon down across the hastily set up target, easily slicing the poor log-man in half. Without slowing her momentum, she twirled herself into a spinning crouch, slicing the feet off of her imaginary opponent. In the same movement, she popped up into the air and kicked the head off of one opponent, cut another wooden target in half, and stabbed forward to put a small hole in the stomach of the final remaining enemy before shooting her eyes up towards the small stopwatch hanging from the tree in front of her.

She couldn't help it––she smirked. For what seemed like a million fucking years, she'd been practicing the same kata over and over again, struggling to get her time down to exactly one second. Judging by the watch dangling directly within her line of sight, she'd managed to get it down to fifty-five milliseconds––quite an achievement, if she didn't say so herself.

The girl wiped at her brow with the back of her hand, glaring up at the burning ball of fire above her. Fucking summer. Fucking Fire Country. Fucking _sun_. Having lived in both the Earth Country and Sound Village for the majority of her life, she wasn't at all used to this abnormally hot weather. Her orange short-sleeved shirt clung to her back for dear life, and the insides of her black spandex shorts felt like a swamp.

Breaking her perfect posture for the first time since she'd begun training, she slumped over and began to walk back towards camp, sheathing her sword and throwing it over her shoulder to keep it from dragging the ground. It wasn't like Anko was around to get on her for not being all straight-laced and prissy, anyway.

The older woman had mysteriously left earlier that morning, claiming that she was going to meet a new client for a mission since they were running a bit low on funds. Tayuya's nose crinkled in distaste at the thought. She _hated_ missions.

Don't get her wrong, she usually loved going on missions––when they involved either fighting, killing, death, or killing. Anything else was boring and a complete waste of her talents and time. Sometimes, she could even appreciate the occasional escort or kidnapping mission, but the missions Anko had been sending her on mostly involved things like helping an old man patch his roof or finding the Fire Lord's wife's cat.

God, she hated that cat.

Bottom line, Anko leaving was always a bad thing. Not only was Tayuya left alone for sometimes days at a time, but when the bitch finally came back, she usually had bad news. It was getting to the point where she was starting to wish that she never came back.

Groaning loudly to herself, Tayuya wearily laid down on the sweet-smelling grass that surrounded their camp. If there was one good thing she could say about the Fire Country, it was that it had a hell of a lot of trees. Shade was never a problem for her, and it made the sun much more bearable in the warmer months.

"Lost on the road of life, Taya-chan?" an annoyingly sweet voice called from the treetops, causing the redhead's eye to twitch in agitation. Speak of the devil.

"Shut the fuck up." She didn't even blink when Anko's upside-down face suddenly appeared within her line of sight, eyes literally three inches away from her own.

"Got a mission for us. We're escorting an old man from the Lightning Country to the Fire Country."

The redhead closed her eyes in an attempt to stem her anger. She didn't really want to ask, and she was certain that she knew the answer already, but the curiosity was killing her. "When?"

Anko shot her an evil grin, telling her everything she needed to know. "Right now. Get packed, we're leaving."

Tayuya rolled up onto her knees and glared hard at the jounin, hoping her stare was enough to make the evil snake woman's head explode. After a few seconds of intense eye-focusing action, she sadly realized that she hadn't yet mastered that particular art and decided to use a bit of her negotiation skills to help Anko understand her concerns.

"What the _fuck?_! I just finished training for like five fucking hours––at _your_ insistence––and _now_ you tell me that we have a mission? What the hell is _wrong_ with you? Can't you at least give me _one_ second to clean myself up?"

The woman gave her a toothy grin and held up a single finger. "One. Are you done cleaning up? We can't keep him waiting."

Left without a choice, the genin reluctantly rose to her feet and began to throw her things into her bag, mumbling insults and threats of permanent maiming under her breath all the while.

After spending exactly five minutes gathering their things and cleaning up the campsite, the two of them set out for the border of the Lightning Country. They weren't far––only a day or so on foot, and four or five hours if they took to the trees. Not bad for an escort mission, since their clients usually wanted to travel much further.

Last time they'd escorted someone from the Lightning Country, the person had asked to be escorted directly to Sunagakure––and _then_ insisted on going right back after realizing that they'd forgotten their favorite sleeping pillow! She couldn't complain much since the guy had paid well––well enough for her to get quite a few new music books and another special gift, in fact––but still! It was a total waste of her time; time that could have been better spent training to help Naruto take on Orochimaru!

"Taya-chan, your posture. Stand up straight, and wipe that scowl off of your face. I want you to meet this guy with a smile; he's a very important person in the shinobi world, and I hear he tips well if his escorts are fun to be around."

Tayuya's frown deepened. She hated acting all prissy and perfect just to please their clients. According to Anko, though, it was a very important part of being a shinobi. "Yeah, yeah, I got it. How's this?" She put on an obviously fake smile, tilted her head to the left, and straightened her back until her head hung back at a sickeningly awkward angle.

"Pefect, keep that up and we'll be sure to get an extra ten thousand yen."

The girl's jaw dropped in surprise, and she snapped her head around to look at her teacher. "Are you serious?"

"Of course I am. If I tell him you're retarded, I'm sure we can get some pity money."

Tayuya scowled again and crossed her arms. "Oh, haha, very fucking funny. Really, where do you come up with this shit? It's hilarious. I mean, you should host your own comedy club or something. Quit your life as a shinobi and travel the world as a professional. I'm sure you'd make it big. Really." When her comment went unanswered, she rolled her eyes and turned to look at the road ahead of her.

It had been over a year and a half since they'd been traveling together, and during that time, she'd learned that Anko just couldn't be baited. The woman had a strange knack for weaseling herself out of both arguments and accusations, and she could easily get you riled up before you knew it. Even Naruto, the most annoying brat on the planet, had admitted once or twice that he found their jounin-sensei irritating.

Her eyes softened slightly as she thought about her blond teammate. As sad as it was, she could barely remember what it was like to be around him. It was getting harder and harder to remember all of their insides jokes, the pranks they'd pulled, the conversations they'd had, and the things they'd done together. Even his face was beginning to get a little fuzzy in her mind, and she'd spent more hours than she could count just staring at his face while he slept.

Her cheeks warmed slightly at that embarrassing thought, but she was quick to squash the blush before it spread to the rest of her face. The last thing she needed was for Anko to notice and say something snide about her and Naruto's relationship. Even after months of explaining that she and her teammate were just good friends, the woman still kept saying that they made a good couple.

To Anko, everything she did involved Naruto. If she trained extra hard, she was training to keep her body in shape for him. If she suddenly took an interest in something "girly", she was doing it to make herself a better housewife. If she suddenly came down with a fever, it was because she missed Naruto and the stress of him not being there was making her sick. There was just no winning!

She angrily kicked a large rock out of her way, smirking slightly as it embedded itself into the trunk of a large tree. Still, though, she had to admit that the bitch knew what she was talking about when it came to training. Her legs had never been stronger, and her taijutsu form was flawless. She'd even begun to learn a secondary 'no-sword' sword style to prepare for the rare occasion that she either lost her weapon or her main fighting style became ineffective.

Another cool side effect of her training was that she was fast––blazing fast. Her leg weights were one hundred and twenty five pounds each. Her arm weights only weighed in at around sixty five pounds or so, but according to Anko, her legs were much more important to her life as a kunoichi. She had yet to figure out what the woman meant exactly, but somehow, she knew it wasn't good.

"Look alive. We're approaching the border," Anko whispered, eyes narrowing in a rare display of seriousness. Tayuya instantly snapped to attention, squinting into the thick fog separating the two borders. She'd always hated this part of the escort process.

They basically had to sit on their hands and wait to see if their client would emerge from the mist and hope that it wasn't some rouge or Kumo ninja looking for trouble. The fog was impossible to blow away, and it seemed thick enough to cut with a knife. She was tempted to take out a kunai and see for herself if it would work.

The sudden appearance of a large, dark shadow immediately set her on edge. When Anko had said that they were escorting an old man across the border, she was expecting someone about her or Anko's height and stature, not this giant. She could safely say that this man was a little under twice her size and probably well over twice her weight as well––which wasn't saying much, since she had only recently passed the one hundred ten pound mark.

Anko placed her hand on the girl's shoulder, squeezing it lightly to get her attention. "He has someone else with him. It could be a Kumo shinobi escorting him to the border, so be ready to fight." Despite the situation, Tayuya felt herself smile. Finally, some action! She hadn't had a real fight in months, and she was itching to slam her blade into the throat of the next person that looked at her the wrong way.

She squinted and struggled to catch a glimpse of the second person, her smile widening as she finally located the ninja Anko was talking about. The person was close to reaching the old man's shoulder, and seemed to walk like a male. She couldn't figure out what his body shape was like since it looked as if he was wearing some sort of cloak, but she could easily see the man's long, spiky hair in the distance.

"I can take him," she scoffed, hand resting on the katana at her side. They'd be reaching their client in a few seconds, and she wanted to be sure that she got the first swipe.

"Are you sure you want to?"

Tayuya furrowed her brows and shot her eyes towards the woman at her side, an angry frown on her face. "Are you saying I can't?"

Anko shrugged her shoulders. "No, I'm just saying that you should be careful. This guy probably isn't a pushover."

"We'll see about that." Before Anko could stop her, Tayuya shot forward at a blinding speed, intent on ending the fight before it started. She unsheathed her katana and plunged it into the man's heart, delighting in the wet, squelching sound that sealed his defeat. Unfortunately, she wasn't counting on the man being fast enough to replace himself with a log. "Shit, kawarimi," she mumbled, speedily jumping back just in case the old man also decided to attack.

The familiar whistling of a kunai headed in her direction piqued her interest, and smirking at the amateurish attack, she easily tilted her head to the left and avoided it. Her smirk was quickly replaced by a look of surprise when a second kunai, hidden in the shadows of the first one, nearly struck her directly between the eyes. The only thing that saved her were her admittedly improved reflexes, thoroughly polished from having random items, weapons, and animals thrown at her when she least expected it by her bitch of a sensei Anko. Maybe this guy had some skill after all.

She ducked under a powerful kick, eyes widening even more at the vicious wind that passed over her head. If a kick like that connected, she doubted the seal Tsunade had given her would fix the damage. Somehow, reattaching a decapitated head didn't seem within the scope of the Sozo Saisen. Thinking quickly, she brought her sword straight up towards his head, frowning when the man once again dodged her slash. She could only vaguely see the smaller man's silhouette in the fog, making it even harder to connect her attacks.

Tayuya sheathed her sword with a smirk. No matter. She wasn't as good with a sword as she was with her legs anyway. Not giving the man time to react, she threw a roundhouse kick towards the place she believed his head to be. When he dodged that, she took to the ground with the intentions of sweeping his feet out from under him.

Annoyingly, he dodged that one too and attempted to stomp on her fully extended leg. If it weren't for her rigorous (read: hellish) months of training, she was certain that the attack would've left her crippled for life. Instead, she flipped back onto her right hand, using the momentum to spin herself around and back onto her feet.

Without giving her time to gain her bearings, the man was on her in milliseconds. He launched limb after limb at the off-balance redhead, forcing her to back up lest she be knocked to the ground by his powerful attacks. With each punch or kick, she could literally feel the wind pass by her, helping her to realize that she'd vastly underestimated the Kumo shinobi. She was avoiding his assault by the skin of her teeth, and deciding that enough was enough, she discreetly reached into her pouch and threw a kunai towards his head to give herself enough time to get away.

Her hands forming a single seal, she teleported herself back to her original position next to Anko, eyebrows furrowed as she tried to understand what was going on. She looked up at the woman with a scowl. "Alright, I'll admit the motherfucker isn't a pushover. I can take him, but not with my pack and these weights on. Do I have permission to take them off?"

The knowing smirk that suddenly appeared on the jounin's face instantly made her suspicious. She was smiling? At a time like this? It was as if she knew who the people approaching them were!

The redhead's thoughts stopped in their tracks. Wait. Knew who the people were? Could it be possible that their client was––

"Tayuya-chan?" a husky, teenaged voice asked from the fog, a hint of excitement in the boy's tone.

Tayuya's normally powerful legs suddenly felt weak. It couldn't be. No, she was definitely hearing things again. This shit_ always _happened when they had a mission that involved the Lightning country. She'd get her hopes up thinking that they were going to join up with Naruto and Ero-sennin only to be let down in the end. She'd made a promise to herself to not be fooled by the illusions of the fog, but just in case...

"Naruto?" As if he had been waiting for her to say his name, the grinning face of her teammate suddenly appeared in front of her, his blue eyes twinkling in delight. Before she herself knew what had happened, Tayuya dropped her pack and literally threw herself at the blond. Anticipating her approach, Naruto opened his arms wide and waited––only to receive a vicious punch in the stomach.

He fell to his knees with a grunt, both arms wrapped around his throbbing abodmen. "What the hell, Tayuya-chan?" he groaned, agony apparent on his features.

The girl stared down at him with an angry frown. "You're lucky that's all I did to you for that kiss, faggot." Her words were harsh, but the wide, excited smile on her face instantly erased any maliciousness from her statement. She helped him stand to his feet before stepping back and looking him over. A lot had changed in eleven months.

When they'd parted, the blond had been roughly around her height, and probably somewhere around her weight as well. His hair had looked somewhat like a piece of sliced kamaboko if you squinted a bit, and to be honest, there had been some sort of aloofness to his general posture.

Now, though, he looked completely different. Besides the obvious difference in his height, his body in general looked bigger. He'd allowed his unruly yellow hair to grow down to his nose, and without a headband covering his forehead, his bangs hung low down over his eyes, giving him a bit of a mysterious appearance.

Her eyes shifted lower to take in his attire, and she was a little surprised to see that there wasn't much orange in his outfit at all. Other than a strange, orange symbol sewn into the chest of his tight-fitting black shirt and a bright orange sash that seemed to serve as both a belt for his long black pants and a holding place for his katana, he was completely devoid of his favorite color. He also wore a simple black jacket over his shirt, showing off the strange necklace he'd received from Tsunade.

"You got taller," she commented, eyes reluctantly drifting from his attire to meet his. She hadn't expected him to grow so much in only a year. She _had_ been expecting him to grow one or two inches in the time they'd been apart, but the blond had shot up by at least four. She actually had to tilt her head back a bit just to look him in the eyes!

Naruto mischievously shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "You didn't grow at all." When her light brown eyes narrowed, he quickly looped one arm over her shoulders and pulled her closer, catching his teammate off guard for the second time since they'd met. "At least vertically," he finished, eyes glancing pointedly at her chest.

Her cheeks flushed a light shade of red, and she jabbed him roughly in the side to make him let go of her shoulders. "Since when were you such a pervert?"

The genin laughed and shrugged again, watching in amusement as she crossed her arms over her chest in a futile attempt to hide herself from view. "Hey, I had a good teacher."

When both Anko and Tayuya turned to glare at the unusually quiet Toad Sage, the old man waved his hands defensively in front of his face. "Don't look at me! I practically dumped him in Kumogakure for a few months and left!" The eerie silence that filled the clearing instantly told the man that he'd said the wrong thing.

"You _what?_" both Anko and Tayuya yelled, eyes filled with anger and disbelief. The fact that he'd recklessly left Naruto to fend for himself in enemy territory both appalled and shocked the kunoichi. They'd been under the impression that Jiraiya would be in Kumo with him!

Before the situation could get any more out of control, Jiraiya placed his hands on the shoulders of the irate women, slightly surprising them with how quickly he'd moved. "Now, now, let's not cry over what's already happened. Instead, let's look to the future! Tell you what; instead of having to camp outside on our first night back together, lets spend the night at a hot spring! I'll even take you all out to dinner––my treat. What do you say?"

The three shinobi exchanged glances and nodded, obviously pleased with this latest development. It'd been awhile since they'd all been able to share a meal together, and they were itching to see what each other had been up to over the past year. Secretly, Tayuya was also hoping to remove the awkwardness that had developed between she and Naruto.

It wasn't so much that she was uncomfortable around him as it was that she didn't exactly know what she could say to him. They'd both changed a lot in the year they'd been apart, and somehow, she doubted that their old jokes would be as funny or make as much sense as they did before. They were basically starting from square one all over again, and would have to learn any new quirks and habits the other had picked up during their training.

Seeing that he'd avoided being beaten into the ground (at least for the moment), Jiraiya quickly began to set off down the path leading back towards the Fire Country. "Alright, let's not dawdle for too long; we _are_ still on the Lightning Country's border, after all. We should also hurry on to the next town before it gets dark."

While Anko sped up to talk with Jiraiya, Tayuya slowed her pace to match that of her teammate's. "So," she started, glancing up at the blond, "How was Kumogakure? Make any new friends?" Naruto's face instantly lit up at her question, and he turned to look at her with a full, foxy, familiar grin.

"I made tons! There's Killerbee, Omoi, Samui, old man Raikage, Yugi-chan, and––"

"Yugi-chan?" she asked, cutting him off before he could finish. She lightly bit the inside of her lip at her eagerness. Hopefully he wouldn't pick up on it.

Her fears were put to rest when he widened his smile and nodded. "Yeah, she's a jinchuuriki like me! Killerbee is, too. They taught me a lot of stuff about controlling my own demon." She lifted her eyebrows in surprise. How the hell did that work? Surely they'd picked up on the fact that since he had the Kyuubi sealed inside of him, he must be from Konoha. That was the last place the great beast was spotted, and as far as she knew, Kumo and Konoha weren't on the best of terms.

Seeing the question on her face, Naruto quickly elaborated. "They didn't trust me at first, and Yugi-chan even tried to kill me––dozens of times, actually––but once we got to talking about the Akatsuki, we all came to a mutual understanding that it'd be best if we worked together so that they didn't get us all. Apparently, they're trying to catch us and make us into a super weapon or something to control the shinobi world. How, I don't know, but that's what they seem to think given the information they have."

Tayuya's frown deepened. She didn't like the sound of that at all. "Have you told Jiraiya? Did they teach you anything useful? Something that can be used against Akatsuki?"

The genin nodded his head, shooting her what he hoped was a comforting grin. He hated seeing her all uptight and worried. "Yeah, I told him, and yeah, even though the Kyuubi's still an asshole, we've worked something out. Sort of." A sour look appeared on his face as he spoke, but it eventually turned into another wide smile. "Yugi-chan helped me a lot as far as talking to the bastard goes. She spent weeks teaching me how to meditate and look within myself, and even helped me to draw out the Kyuubi's chakra when I need it. I mean, I still can't use that much without losing it, but I can use three tails just fine."

If it was possible, the scowl on her face etched itself even further into her skin. That entire sentence pissed her off.

Nevermind that whole thing about 'Yugi-chan'––she'd _seen_ what the fox's chakra did to him. Every time he used it, he was in pain. She thought she'd made it clear that he'd be better off relying on his own abilities, but apparently, her opinion didn't matter to him at all. He'd much rather listen to what some cocksucking demon slut had to say over the girl who'd seen him hit rock bottom. 'Yugi-chan' hadn't been there when Juro had died. She hadn't seen his face when he'd killed the Sound-nin Misumi, nor that ROOT officer over a year ago.

"What about you? Did you make any new friends? Anything cool happen?"

Even though she wanted to answer with tales of perverted old men and equally perverted old women, her mind was still too pissed off to put together a logical thought. It was like he'd completely forgotten what using the Kyuubi's chakra did to him. Was she the only one who cared? And why should she? If he wanted to fuck up his own body and mind, then fine; it wasn't her problem.

"Not really," she spat, keeping her eyes straight ahead.

Naruto noticeably blanched. He knew that tone well. Having spent the majority of his time around Yugito Nii, he was now able to discern when a girl was being, well, "catty", for lack of a better word. The only problem was, he still had trouble figuring out _why_. "Uh, I don't suppose you're going to tell me what I did to make you angry, huh?" When she didn't answer, he let loose a deep sigh.

When Shikamaru had uttered that "women were troublesome" all those months ago, he hadn't been able to understand what the chuunin meant––not that anyone could blame him since his experience with females was limited, to say the least. But after spending nearly two years with three especially "opinionated" women, he could now fully understand what the lazy chuunin had been trying to say at that time.

Women were, indeed, troublesome. He couldn't for the life of him understand why she was upset, though.

He glanced over at Tayuya with a frown. He could tell she was pissed off. Her jaw was tense, her brows were furrowed, and her entire body seemed to be vibrating from rage. She stomped along the path with purpose, tightening her fists at her sides with obvious anger. Despite this fact, the blond couldn't help but grin. This was the Tayuya he'd missed while training in Kumo. This was the fireball redhead he'd often thought about during breaks in training or before falling asleep at night.

Still, there was something different about the girl that he just couldn't place. Of course, there were the obvious differences. Her long, cherry red ponytail that used to reach the small of her back now hung to the area just below her shoulder blades, and her previously long bangs were now cut short in a straight line over her eyes, easily shielding the light brown orbs from view if she tilted her head down.

Another huge difference was in her attire. She still wore her favorite black spandex training shorts although they seemed a lot shorter than he remembered, but instead of regular shinobi sandals, she now sported the heeled sandals he'd seen on both Shizune and the Godaime. Long, baggy white leg warmers covered her shins in what he assumed was an attempt to hide her training weights, and a similar pair of sleeves adorned her forearms. Complete with a loose black tank top and a large black belt that held her sword and kunai pouch, he could safely say that she looked significantly different from when he'd last seen her.

His grin widened a bit more at the angry girl in front of him. Yeah, it was definitely true that people only realized someone's importance once they were gone.

It was great to have her back at his side.

–––––

"So then...so then, Taya-chan, she...!" before she could finish her sentence, Anko fell into a fit of semi-drunken laughter, sloshing her beer all over the table of the restaurant. Tayuya rolled her eyes.

She was used to this. She couldn't count the times the jounin had dragged her out to drink––especially when she had found out that she'd turned sixteen and was of legal drinking age. Personally, she could never understand the appeal of beer. Not to say that she'd never had it, but the stuff smelled and tasted like water, piss, rubbing alcohol, and grease mixed together.

...Okay, so she was exaggerating a bit. Point is, she didn't particularly like the stuff. She reached for her iced tea and took a long swig from the glass, sighing loudly as she slammed the cup against the table. It'd been awhile since she'd had such a grand meal, and who knew when they'd get to eat this well next? Rudely reaching across the table, she snatched a piece of sashimi from Naruto's plate, earning a frown from the blond currently stuffing his face.

"Hey!" he yelled, mouth stuffed with fish, "that was mine!"

Tayuya turned her fiercest glare on the boy, instantly silencing his protests. "Shut up." With that, she easily chewed and swallowed his fish, secretly delighting in the equally angry glare he sent back at her.

"What's this? You two're fightin' already?" Anko grinned, taking another sip from her beer mug. "That won't do! The family's all back together again! We should celebrate!" Before the girl could blink, Anko poured the foul-tasting liquid down Tayuya's throat, forcing her to swallow lest she drown. She managed to get nearly half the mug down her throat before the genin was finally able to push the woman away, coughing and sputtering in an attempt to catch a breath of air.

"What the fuck're you doing?" she screeched. "Are you trying to fuckin' kill me?" Even though she hadn't swallowed that much of Anko's beer, Tayuya still felt her head begin to swim a bit. She'd never had much of a tolerance for alcohol, and even a few swallows of beer was enough to make her feel lightheaded for a short while. Not wanting to get any more tipsy than she already was, she slowly stood to her feet. "I'm going back to the room," she said, angrily stepping over Anko to get out of the booth.

To her surprise, Naruto also stood up, shoving as much of his leftover meal into his mouth as he could. He swallowed the last of Tayuya's remaining drink and slipped out of the booth behind her. When she raised her eyebrows at him, he grinned innocently and shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. "I'll walk you back."

"Why? I can take care of myself." As soon as the words left Tayuya's mouth, Anko frowned and shook her head to show her disapproval. Noticing this, the redhead quickly corrected herself. "I mean...sure, if you want." She slowly swayed towards the door, Naruto hot on her heels.

"How cute. I wish I had someone like that," Anko murmured, taking another swig from her beer as she watched them go.

"I don't think those two should get much closer than they already are."

"It's okay, isn't it? I've been with her for a year, and despite what we thought in the beginning, Taya-chan actually has a pretty good head on her shoulders. She's just a little socially retarded, and being with Naruto will help that. I don't think she's any more unstable than any other shinobi."

Jiraiya's face took on a somber frown as he watched the teens exit the restuarant.

"It's not Tayuya I'm worried about."

Shaking her head, Anko changed the subject. "So, find out anything new about Akatsuki?" she asked, eyes unconsciously shifting to make sure no one was close enough to eavesdrop.

"Not much. However, what I did manage to discover was very important: the Akatsuki are beginning to move."

The jounin's eyebrows shot up into her forehead. "Are you serious? You said we had three years, and it hasn't even been two!"

The man sighed and leaned back in his seat, rubbing a tired hand over his face. Not for the first time since they'd begun the trip, Anko realized just how old he was. He looked like he hadn't slept in days if the light bags under his eyes were any indication, and the wrinkles around his mouth seemed more pronounced than ever.

"I know, but it's not as bad as it sounds. It seems as if they're just trying to locate the jinchuuriki rather than actually catch them. I guess you could say that they're getting their ducks in a row. If things keep going at this pace, we should still have another good year or so to train them."

Anko slowly nodded her head, chewing thoughtfully on her wooden dango stick. "So, basically, we have to turn them into kickass shinobi able to defend themselves from a group of A and S-ranked nukenin within a year. Right. I can do that." She lifted her hand and motioned for the ditzy, large-chested waitress to bring her another beer.

She was gonna need a lot more booze.

––––––

Naruto and Tayuya walked side by side, neither one speaking––or for that matter, even looking at each other. Both were content with simply being with each other, reunited after almost a year apart. Just as she was getting used to their comfortable silence, Naruto suddenly jammed his hand into his large jacket pocket, instantly grabbing her attention.

"Here," he said, shoving a small gift bag into her hands.

She looked up at him curiously, only to find that he was looking away. Shrugging on the inside, she thrust her hand into the bag and pulled the item out. Shortly afterwards, she gasped.

Tayuya stared at the black hat with a mixture of surprise and awe. It was practically identical to the one she'd torn during her battle with Shikamaru in both color, texture, and style, the only difference being that it was a little darker in saturation because it was brand new. It touched her that he remembered what it looked liked since they'd been bitter enemies the last time she was wearing it, and even more so that he bothered to buy it for her.

So she was understandably surprised when he suddenly grabbed it and the bag out of her hands.

"Sorry," Naruto said, stuffing the hat back into the bag.

She stared at her empty hands for a few seconds before the realization of what he'd done fully hit her. "What the hell are you doing? I didn't even get to try it on yet!" she yelled, jumping on him in an attempt to grab back her gift.

Unfortunately, now that he was a few inches taller than her, he could easily keep the bag out of her reach. The blond raised his eyebrows a bit, confusion evident in his features. "I thought you didn't like it. You just kept staring at it with this weird look on your face, so..."

"Of course I do! I love it! I was just...surprised. I've never really gotten gifts," she said, body flush against his as she continued to reach.

"Oh." He handed her back the bag, smirking a little as she practically snatched it from him.

"Thanks," she mumbled after making sure that he wouldn't try to grab it again. "I feel like you're always giving me shit, but I never give you anything back."

"I don't want anything back! I just saw it in Kumogakure and thought you'd like it, that's all. It's gonna get cold in a few months, and it wasn't like it was expensive or anything."

"Still..." she stared down at the hat with a feeling of sadness and nostalgia. He didn't know what her old hat had meant to her, and the fact that he'd gotten her a new one...

Tayuya wiped at her nose with the back of her sleeve, sniffling quietly in an attempt to hold back her tears. She couldn't bring herself to actually hug him, so she awkwardly leaned into his body, shoving him lightly with her shoulder.

Naruto grinned down at her, instantly understanding what the small action meant. Surprising her yet again with his boldness, he looped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed, initiating the hug that she couldn't give.

Against her wishes, she felt her face heat up as blood began to flow into her cheeks. It was a little frustrating how something so meaningless could make her blush, but fuck, the guy had just given her back a piece of her past. She'd never tell him––at least not for awhile––but this small gesture had instantly made him the most important person in her life. Granted, he'd already held that position, and it wasn't that great of a feat since she had maybe five or six living people that she gave any sort of a shit about, but still.

Thankfully, he let go after a couple of seconds––but not before she jabbed him in the side with a sharp elbow, causing him to laugh and rub his side.

When she felt reasonably in control of her emotions she risked looking up at him again, only to find that he was lost in thought.

Staring at the faraway expression on his face, she couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking about. Something had happened to him. He wasn't the same Naruto that she knew. He was smarter. Observant. More world weary. She could see it in the way he chose his words before he spoke and the way he studied her face whenever she said something; probably scrutinizing her expressions for context clues. It was somewhat saddening to admit, but he was growing up.

"I know this is a stupid question, but we're still friends, right?" Tayuya asked, voice coming out more unsure than she'd wanted it to.

"Huh? Of course we are!" he exclaimed, put off that she'd asked something so obvious.

Still, Tayuya was unconvinced. "I know we haven't talked in a year, but I want you to know that you can tell me _anything_. There's nothing you could say that would make me not want to be your friend." A small, wry smirk appeared on her face. "Unless you said you hated me or something. Then I'd have to kick your ass."

Naruto stared down at her, a little surprised that she was being so...honest. He knew how hard it was for her to say something like this, so he shot her a wide mile grin to show his appreciation. "Thanks, Tayuya-chan."

"You'll promise to tell me if something's bugging you?" she asked again, grabbing his sleeve so that she could be certain she had his attention. She instantly let go when she realized what she'd done, shoving the offending hand into the waistband of her shorts just in case it got anymore bright ideas. Luckily, Naruto barely seemed to notice. His smile fell into a more natural position, and he looked her straight in the eyes when he answered her.

"I promise."

**AN: I really hesitated to post this chapter as its been collecting dust for a long time now and reads a little weird to me. That, and it feels like I'm promising to continue this story. I'm not! I can try, but it'll be really slow!**


	28. Chapter 28

**The Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 28**

Naruto took a deep breath, keeping his eyes closed as he focused on the feeling of the world around him. It was a weird phenomenon he'd only discovered in the last year after training with Yugito and Killer Bee, but somehow, if he concentrated as hard as he could, he could vaguely sense the chakra of the people around him.

Everyone had a different chakra signature, and more often than not, it directly correlated to their personality. Tayuya, strangely enough, was an exception. Her chakra signature was much more calm and gentle than he thought it'd be, though it did have the tendency to spike upwards every now and then. Perhaps he didn't know her as well as he thought he did.

His mind gradually shifted back to his friends in Kumo, and more specifically, to the woman who'd taught him how to meditate in the first place.

–––

Naruto nervously stepped into the bedroom of Yugito Nii, idly wiping at the small beads of sweat that had appeared on his forehead. It was the first time he had been in the room of a member of the opposite sex, and the fact that she was a little over twice his age did nothing to stem his fear.

Earlier that day his fellow jinchuuriki had grabbed him by the collar and literally dragged him to the large apartment that she shared with another kunoichi. He'd barely gotten a glimpse of the rest of the apartment before she had opened the door to her room and motioned for him to enter. What he did see, however, was the highly amused smile of Yugito's roommate––who's name he had later learned was Samui––and the thin towel barely covering her ridiculously large chest.

"Sit," Yugito commanded, closing the door behind her and pointing to her bed.

Naruto's eyes widened. His perverted side had considered this possibility, but his common sense had pretty much assured him that nothing bad was going to happen. "Uh, why?" he asked, eyes darting around the room for an escape. Yugito had _just_ come around to him being allowed to stay in Kumo, and as such, he didn't fully trust her yet.

Rather than answer his question, she walked over until she was standing right in front of him, dark eyes staring down into his blue ones. "**Sit,**" she said again, using her 'demon' voice.

He'd never admit it to her face, but when her voice suddenly dropped a few octaves and blue flames shot out of her eyes and mouth, it scared him shitless. It was one of two things that was capable of giving him nightmares, with the other being the thought of serving Orochimaru as his 'personal assistant.' Being the obstinate brat that he was, though, Naruto took his sweet time situating himself on the bed.

A ghost of a smile appeared on the older woman's face at his compliance, and she relaxed her face until all traces of the Niibi was gone. "Cross your legs." When he did so––as slowly as possible, of course––she climbed onto the bed behind him, straddling his body with hers.

Naruto's face instantly began to turn red, and the first signs of panic sprung up on his face. "What're you––"

"Shhhh. Relax, I'm helping you," she purred, forcing him to lean back until his back was touching his chest.

At first, it was tough. Yugito was no young woman, so her...chest...was rather developed. Eventually, though, he was able to calm down enough to fully relax against her body, eyes closing involuntarily as he was lulled into a dream-like state by her heartbeat.

"Doesn't that feel better?" she asked in little more than whisper.

Naruto slowly nodded his head, feeling the tension in his body gradually begin to leave him. He didn't know how long they'd sat there, but it felt like hours. He felt her hands slip under his shirt and rest on his stomach, and while it freaked him out a bit, it wasn't enough to break him out of his trance.

"Try channeling the Kyuubi's chakra," she whispered. "And keep your eyes closed."

He was a little hesitant to use the demon's chakra after what had happened the last few times, but he was feeling so calm that he did as she instructed anyway. Yugito was much more experienced when it came to using her demon's chakra, and even if he did go out of control, she'd most likely be able to contain his power. Besides, It wasn't like he really had a choice. Squeezing his eyes tighter together, the genin focused on the seal surrounding his belly button until the familiar slow burning began to spread throughout his body.

"Guess how many tails you're using right now?" she asked, a hint of amusement in her voice. When he shrugged, she answered. "Three."

At that, Naruto's concentration was broken, and the cloak of bright red chakra that had been surrounding him began to evaporate. He turned to look at Yugito, eyes wide with surprise. "I was using _three _tails? But I can usually only fully control one!"

"See what happens when you meditate? Chakra is as much spiritual as it is physical. If you're able to exert full control over both parts, it wouldn't be far fetched to say that you could control up to six tails without losing your mind. Controlling all of them may require some help from the Kyuubi, though."

The blond's eyes widened even more, and he stared at the still dissipating red chakra with amazement. So this is what Jiraiya had been trying to teach him all those months ago. He'd thought it was stupid and boring at the time, but now...

Interrupting his thoughts, Yugito continued to speak. "I was helping you contain the Kyuubi's chakra with my own demon's, but if you concentrate on this feeling, you should be able to control it all by yourself. Like I said, ideally, you'd have some sort of dialogue with your tailed beast, but the Kyuubi probably isn't as understanding as mine or Bee's."

Naruto frowned at this. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't imagine the Kyuubi helping of his own free will. The few conversations he'd had with the beast had pretty much assured that. Still, six tails was a lot of power, and if he could control that much, he'd be the most popular shinobi in the village!

"Thanks, Yugi-chan!"

The woman's face, which had finally cracked a smile, dropped into a deep frown. Bright blue chakra began to seep from her eyes, and her nails grew into sharpened knives. "**What did I tell you about calling me Yugi-chan**?" she hissed.

The boy instantly shot off the bed, making a beeline for the door. "B-but I can't call you Nii-chan, so..."

"**Then Yugito-sensei or Yugito-sama will be fine.**"

"Sure thing..." he started, opening the door. "...Yugi-chan!" With that, he disappeared from her bedroom and ran out of her apartment, the older jinchuuriki hot on his heels.

––

A smirk appeared on his face as he thought of the older woman. By the time he'd left, she had all but accepted the nickname he'd given her. Sure, she had kicked the stuffing out of him a dozen times for it, but he knew she'd cave eventually. The shuffling of the sheets behind him caught his attention, forcing him out of this thoughts.

"Hey," Tayuya mumbled sleepily, a small smile on her face. Her shorter red locks framed her face, making her look more like an innocent sixteen year old girl than the hardened shinobi that she was.

It was odd; he didn't remember her looking this..._nice_. He'd also noticed the day before that there was a strange bounce in her step when she walked, and even her eyes seemed to dance every time she looked in his direction. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that she was happy.

The blond took in her slim, rumpled form, unable to stop a grin of his own from stretching across his face. Although he was happy to see her again, he'd be lying if he said that things between them weren't a little awkward.

Eleven months was a long time to be away from someone, and since both of them had been going through radical changes during their time apart, it was almost like they were two totally different people. It was only the memories of each other and the fun that they'd had that allowed them to be half as close as they were now.

"Morning." He closed the glass balcony door and sat down on the edge of the bed next to her, looking straight into her slightly unfocused eyes. It was easy to see that she was still tired, but that wasn't completely her fault.

After getting back to the hotel, they'd ended up spending the entire night talking, and after four hours of nearly nonstop catching up, the two of them had finally dozed off together. At some point in the morning Anko had come and gone, but it'd barely even registered to his subconcious.

So far he'd learned that she had eighteen new jutsus, written two new songs, and acquired a badass new scythe that she'd 'liberated' from a thug who had stupidly tried to rob her. Of course, when he'd asked about the jutsus, she'd simply shrugged cheekily and smirked at him, causing him to break out into a cold sweat. That look was _never_ good.

Noticing the odd smile that Naruto was currently sending in her direction, Tayuya stared back at him, right eyebrow quirking in curiosity. "What?" she asked, the corners of her lips twitching upwards.

"I'm not used to you smiling all the time."

Realizing exactly what she was doing, Tayuya's face instantly dropped into a scowl. "Don't get used to it, faggot." Unfortunately, she still couldn't hide the amused glint in her eyes.

The blond laughed and stood from the bed, glad to see that she was still the same Tayuya. In retrospect, he really shouldn't have said anything. He'd forgotten how adverse she was to looking and acting like a girl, claiming other shinobi took her far less seriously when she did so.

Which, to an extent, was true. If he had to fight Hinata or Ino, it'd be tough for him to feel even an ounce of fear. Hinata's techniques were devastating, but given her timid nature and the fact that he'd bested her _supposedly_ more skilled older cousin, he'd be hard pressed to go even half speed against her.

It was the same with Ino. She had the ability to mindfuck a person, but not only did they have to be standing pretty still, her body was a rag doll after she left her body whether she successfully completed the jutsu or not. Since he used shadow clones like they were going out of style, the chances of her hitting the right one with her technique was one in a hundred at best.

He was only mildly afraid of Sakura because he knew first hand how strong she could get when she was angry, but even then he wasn't worried about being able to take her if it ever came down to it. The only kunoichi he would be honestly and truly afraid to fight were Anko and Yugi-chan, and that was because they had over ten years of experience on him and wouldn't think twice about critically injuring him. Stretching a little, Naruto walked over to his pack.

"Where're you going?" Tayuya asked, sliding out of the bed to follow him. She was still wearing the same t-shirt and pair of spandex shorts from the day before, but she didn't really care. She didn't smell that bad, and hell, it might keep her from getting hit on by some random asshole who 'Couldn't help but notice her bright red hair from across the room.' She almost gagged at how many times she'd heard that one over the past year.

Without looking at her, Naruto pulled off his shirt and reached for a clean one, not seeming to mind that she was still in the room. Since he was busy pulling on his shirt, he missed the brief, appraising glance that Tayuya gave his bare torso. "Downstairs to get breakfast since it's complimentary and all. Wanna come?"

She pretended to mull it over in her mind although they both knew full well what her answer would be. Besides the fact that her stomach was eating her alive from the inside out, there wasn't anything else to do in the room. It would also give her a chance to spend some more time with Naruto, since as she'd learned the hard way, nothing was certain.

Last time she'd been blindsided by his departure, and the worst part was that they were in the middle of a huge, meaningless fight. She regretted not spending all of their remaining time together before he'd left for Kumo, but there wasn't anything she could do about it now. All she could do was try to make sure that history didn't repeat itself and take full advantage of the fact that he was back.

"Yeah, I'll go with you," she sighed, making it seem as though she was doing him a huge favor. She slipped on her sandals, ran a brush through her hair a couple of times, and began to walk down to the dining hall of the hotel, leaving Naruto to catch up with her whenever he was finished getting ready.

It only took a few seconds for him to appear next to her, fully dressed and ready to go. He stuck his elbow out towards her with a grin.

Tayuya stared at the offered appendage as if it were rotting meat. Was he really expecting her to do something as campy and lame as allow herself to be escorted to breakfast?

In typical Naruto fashion, the blond stuck out his lower lip in a pout.

Despite herself, she smiled at his childish antics, and rolling her eyes, she looped her arm through his and walked side by side with him down the stairs.

–––––

"Good afternoon, welcome to the Yamanaka––oh, Sakura. You're late," Ino frowned, stepping around the counter to greet her friend. Her long, blond hair swished behind her as she moved, and grinning a bit, she closed the floral magazine she'd been reading. "Tsunade-sama working you hard again?"

The medic-nin tiredly nodded her head, brushing her shoulder-length pink hair out of her eyes. "Yeah, especially now that I'm an official nurse. I'm only allowed to treat small things like cleanly broken bones and stab wounds, but that's tiring in itself. Do you know how many patients I've had to see this morning? _Thirteen!"_

Rolling her eyes, the blond placed her hands on her friend's shoulders and pushed her towards the door of the shop. "Hai, hai, tell me about it while we walk. I only have twenty minutes for my break now thanks to you." She quickly changed the sign from 'Open' to 'Closed' on her way out, and with a relieved sigh, locked the shop up for lunch.

"So," Ino started, stretching her arms towards the sky, "Where are we eating today? That new restaurant that opened up down the street? I hear they make good salads."

Sakura frowned lightly, pushing her shoulder-length pink hair out of her eyes. She really needed a haircut, and soon. "Nah, I'm not in the mood for salad. Besides, it'd probably be too crowded anyway." She paused and glanced around the market district, looking for a suitable place to eat.

She and Ino had been grabbing lunch together for the past year or so, using their breaks to catch up on the latest village gossip and news. Working in a hospital, Sakura had plenty of opportunities to eavesdrop on the various patients and visitors, and as such, she was always among the first to find out who was dating who, who was wooing who, and who was doing who.

Likewise, being in the busiest part of the market district, it was easy for Ino glean some information off of the many shoppers who frequented the area. Often times, she didn't even have to use her ninja skills; an open window and a clear mind was usually all she needed.

The blond's eyes lit up as she laid eyes on a familiar sight. "Hey, Sakura, how about there?"

Sakura followed her friend's outstretched finger and lifted her eyebrows. "Ichiraku's?" she asked, a little surprised that the diet queen had suggested ramen.

Ino lightly shrugged her shoulders. "Why not? It's been awhile since we've had ramen, and I hear their diet ramen is pretty damn good for what it is."

Sakura rolled the idea around in her head. While she wasn't that big a fan of the dish, it did have somewhat of a nostalgic taste to it. That, and she was running low on money since she'd blown her last paycheck on weapons and a bunch of clothes. Nodding her agreement, the two girls stepped into the small roadside ramen stand.

"Welcome!" a male voice boomed, turning away from the stove to greet his newest customers. There were already three other men in the restaurant, so the two girls slipped onto the two stools in the far corner of the restaurant. "Ah, Sakura-san and Ino-san, is it? Long time no see! What'll you two have?"

the girls blinked and exchanged surprised glances. They didn't come here that often, so they were both a little shocked that he remembered their names. As if sensing the question on their faces, Ayame stepped from behind the curtain separating them from the back room.

"Naruto-kun talks about you two all the time, and you know how often he drops by." The young woman's smile dropped a bit. "Or, at least used to. How is Naruto-kun doing? Have you heard from him?" The genin shook their heads and frowned.

"Not at all," Sakura answered. "Tsunade-sama says that any and all communications with Naruto's group are S-rank secrets, so she won't tell me anything."

The brown-haired girl's smile fell a little more. "Ah, I see. I hope he's alright." As if suddenly remembering where she was, she perked back up and smiled once again towards the kunoichi. "So, what will you have?"

Without even taking time to think, the girls replied simultaneously. "Diet ramen." If it weren't for the fact that she witnessed this occurrence nearly every time a group of girls came in, Ayame might've laughed. Instead, she turned to grab some clean bowls for her father to use.

Teuchi nodded his head and turned back towards the stove. "Coming up!" While they waited for their orders, the girls did everything in their power not to blurt out the question that was burning at the back of their minds: What had Naruto said about them?

They were expecting the blond to talk about Sakura all the time, but_ Ino_? As far as they knew, the boy had never taken much of an interest in the Yamanaka past the level of friendship.

Deciding to bite the bullet and ask, Ino leaned forward to get Ayame's attention. "So, uh, what exactly has Naruto said about me?" the blond asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. It apparently hadn't worked too well, as the waitress turned to look at her with a positively evil smirk.

"Oh, nothing big. I can't remember everything, but I do know he mentioned that you were pretty a couple of times, and that you're really good at making flower arrangements. Oh, and he kept bringing up how your eyes kind of matched the sky. Tayuya-san didn't like that one too much."

Sakura's eyebrows shot up into her overly large forehead. Naruto had said that about _Ino_? And in front of that wench from the Sound, no less? Just what the hell was going on here? They couldn't have exchanged more than ten words with each other since their time in the Academy, so what made him have such a high opinion of her best friend?

Next to her, Ino was equally shocked. Other than the comment about her flower arranging, all of this was news to her. Even though it'd been awhile since she'd considered the boy as a potential boyfriend, perhaps it was time to dust off that old idea about him becoming her knight in shining armor. He'd only get bigger, stronger, and wiser during his training trip, and maybe by the time he returned, he'd be perfect for her.

"Don't even think about it, Ino," Sakura warned, jade eyes narrowing at the faraway look on her rival's face.

Ino snapped back to attention, shaking her head lightly to clear the daydreams. "Think about what?"

"About Naruto. I know you, and I can see that predatory look in your eyes. Just because he complimented you a few times doesn't mean that he's not the same Naruto you knew in the Academy. Listen, he'll never change. You'd just be wasting your time."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Ayame cut in, leaning over the countertop with a mischievous smirk. "He seems pretty determined to get stronger, and if anyone can change, it's Naruto-kun. In fact, once he hits sixteen, I may try to get a piece of him myself." Of course, she was joking. Naruto, if anything, was like her little brother. She'd watched him grow up before her eyes, and the thought of being his girlfriend was, well...a little gross.

The loud clank of two bowls being placed on the countertop interrupted their mini-conversation, and with an angry grunt, Teuchi pulled his daughter away from the kunoichi. "You will do no such thing! I'm not ready to marry my daughter off to some hoodlum shinobi just yet, even if it _is_ Naruto!"

The brunette rolled her eyes. "Relax, dad, I was just joking. He's a _kid_ compared to me." The man grunted again and turned back towards the stove, seemingly satisfied with her answer. Once she was sure he wasn't listening, she leaned forward and placed her hand next to her mouth. "Yeah right," she whispered, shooting them a conspiratorial wink. Before her father could notice, she quickly hopped back and began to wash the dishes, humming (not so) innocently to herself.

Sakura's brow furrowed. Okay, something was _definitely_ going on. If she counted Hinata and the redheaded bitch he was currently training with, Naruto had four girls trying to make him theirs––one of whom was a whole five years older. Just when she'd thought Ayame preferred Kakashi, too.

She slowly ate her noodles, trying her best to understand what they saw in her idiot of a teammate. He was short, loud, annoying, stubborn, and to top it all off, he wasn't even that great of a ninja! As far as she could tell, the blond had zero redeeming qualities as a boyfriend. Sure, he was a good, loyal friend, but that was about it. Anything else would be pushing it.

"Sakura? You're not done yet?" Ino asked, staring at the girl in curiosity. "It's already been fifteen minutes, and our breaks end in another five. Hurry it up, will you?"

The medic-nin looked down into her bowl and sighed. She'd only managed to eat ten or so bites of her food, and anyone who knew anything about ramen knew that once it got cold, it got nasty. The only one she knew who'd would eat cold ramen is Naruto, and that was because he was a ramen _freak_. He could eat any kind of ramen any kind of way––hell, she'd even see him dump a spoonful of sugar into his cup of ramen during their mission to the Snow Village.

He'd thought it was salt, but still.

Placing a few coins on the countertop, she slid off the stool and stretched, reluctant to return to the hospital for more training and patient-treating. Thanks to Naruto, she hadn't been able to fully relax her mind and body. Even when he wasn't here he was in her way.

"I guess we should split up here," Sakura said, already looking towards the Konoha General Hospital with a frown. Ino nodded her agreement, ponytail bobbing along behind her because of the action.

"Yeah, I won't have time to walk with you to the hospital today. Later, Sakura!" the blond waved, walking backwards as she spoke. She was eager to get back to the relative quiet of her Flower Shop so that she could once again rehash her plans about making Naruto hers.

She wasn't all that interested in the blond, but it never hurt to have a plan just in case. Who knows? He might actually come back as this badass, long-haired heartthrob who could rival even Sasuke in looks and talent. Even better, he might have matured and ditched the color orange. Ino snorted in mirth. Yeah, right.

As if that could ever happen.

–––––

Naruto scratched at his hair, frowning at how long it had gotten. The last time he'd had a haircut was well over five months ago when he'd literally been dragged to a barber by Yugito Nii, claiming that he was beginning to look like an upside down mop.

Noticing him mess with it, Tayuya reached up and ran her fingers through his messy blond locks, painfully gripping a handful after a couple of seconds. "You look like a fucking upside down mop," she murmured, not noticing the way his eyebrows raised at her statement. "Anko's pretty goddamn decent at cutting hair; you should ask her to do it for you."

The blond blanched at the thought of letting Anko within twenty feet of him with a sharp instrument. "I'll think about it," he said, his tone implying that he'd already made his decision. There was no way in hell she was going to cut his hair, and he'd much sooner throw it back into a ponytail like Jiraiya's.

Tayuya laughed and removed her hand from his head, fully understanding his reservations. If she hadn't been tied to a stump, she wouldn't have let Anko touch her hair, either. "Well, you're getting a haircut at some point. You're starting to look like a queen."

Listening to the genin chatter behind them, Jiraiya gave Anko a sideways glance, a little put off by the angry redhead's overall calm demeanor. She still swore like a sailor with Tourette's, but the angry cloud that used to hang over her head was, at least for now, nowhere to be seen. "What exactly did you do to her?"

"It wasn't easy, believe me. Trying to mellow out a screwed up girl like that is like trying to tame a vicious, man-eating tiger. You won't escape without a few scratches, and no matter how well behaved they may seem on the surface, they're still dangerous." She glanced back at the genin and smirked, pleased by the mile wide smile on Tayuya's face. "Still, she hasn't been this happy in months. I'm glad the chibis are getting along even after all this time."

Also glancing back at the teens, Jiraiya sighed. "Emotions are messy, especially on a mission like this. When I suggested we bring Tayuya with us, I had no idea the two of them would get on so well."

Anko frowned. "Stop being so pessimistic. They haven't seen in each other in almost a year, and they were like best friends. Of _course_ they're going to be all giddy and talkative."

Looking back to make sure the teenagers weren't paying attention, the sannin lowered his voice and elaborated on his previous statement. "Remember what I said before about them not getting too close?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"That warning still stands. They're shinobi. Yes, they're humans with emotions, but they're also tools of the Fire Country. It's better that they try to maintain a certain professional distance between them while we're in such a tumultuous situation."

"Yeah, and just look how happy you are screwing hookers while living the life of a fifty year old bachelor. Don't worry, I've got it under control."

Before he could reply, a loud voice interrupted them.

"Hey, _Ero-sennin_, where're we going, anyway?" Tayuya asked, amusement heavy in her voice. Her eyes shone with mischief, obviously knowing how much he hated the nickname. It didn't help that Naruto was trying (and failing) to muffle a laugh next to her.

Giving the jounin one last warning glare, he schooled his face into a nonchalant grin and looked over his shoulder at the curious teens. "Didn't we tell you? We're going to the Earth Country."

At that moment, Tayuya stopped. Her eyes widened until they felt like they were going to pop out of her head, and her breathing became shallower by the second. She fell to her hands and knees and tried to catch her breath, but it was a futile effort. Oxygen was refusing to go into her lungs, and it wasn't long before she began to wheeze.

Her entire body began to heat up, and eventually, she couldn't even see. Every muscle in her body shook as she tried to hold up her weight and keep from landing face first on the dusty ground below.

Instantly, Naruto was at her side. He pulled her pack off of her back in an attempt to make her comfortable, but it seemed to do little to help her current state. "Tayuya-chan? What's wrong? Anko-sensei! Ero-sennin! Something's wrong with Tayuya-chan!"

The older shinobi rushed back to check on her, shoving the worried blond out of the way.

"What's wrong with her?" Naruto shouted, hovering over his sensei's shoulders.

"She's hyperventilating," Anko murmured, eyebrows also furrowing in concern.

"What? What's that?"

"It's when a person breathes too rapidly and takes in too much air, usually caused by stress or anxiety," Jiraiya explained, fingers instinctively going to her neck to check her pulse. "Judging by her body temperature, her blood pressure's also spiking. Tayuya, listen to me. Calm down. Take slow, even breaths."

Her eyes were unfocused as she tried to follow his instructions, and her fingernails dug into the soft earth of the Fire Country. She began to suck in large gulps of air, opening her mouth as wide as she could. Drool slowly ran down her chin, pooling in between her clenched fingers. Finally her breathing slowed and her cheeks gradually began to regain their pinkish color.

Feeling a bit better, Tayuya shakily wiped her chin with the back of her hand and looked up at them with wide, fearful eyes. "I can't go," she rasped, gripping Naruto's sleeve in her small, wet fingers. "I can't."

"Go where? What are you talking about?" Naruto asked gently, rubbing her back in an attempt to not be completely useless. He reached into his backpack and grabbed his water container, unscrewing it and handing it to her. When it became obvious that she wouldn't be able to drink, he carefully brought the canteen up to her mouth and titled it so that some of the cool liquid could seep into her mouth.

It took her another few swallows of water, but the redhead was eventually able to calm down enough to continue. "I...I can't go to Earth Country. I can't go back home."

**AN: Short chapter because I couldn't end it any better than this. So I guess I'm sort of back? All of your comments were so amazing that I absolutely _had_ to give it a shot. Updates won't be fast, but I'm going to try to keep them coming.**

**EDIT: Sorry guys, I uploaded and left without checking since I was in a rush :/ This has never happened before, so I'm curious as to why it happened now. **


	29. Chapter 29

**The Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 29**

"So, Tayuya's from the Earth Country. Not that surprising given her features and affinity for earth style ninjutsu," Anko mumbled, arms crossed over chest as she leaned against the wall outside of her room. "I'm actually surprised I didn't see it before."

After Tayuya's meltdown, the group had decided to get a room in a nearby town. They'd spent the night to give her time to rest, and as far as they knew, the redhead had been asleep the entire time.

Jiraiya nodded his head in agreement, letting loose a heavy sigh. "Her heritage isn't the problem, though. I'm more concerned with why she doesn't want to go back there."

"I don't know about most people who've decided to join up with Orochimaru, but I ended up hanging with the guy because my life was complete shit. I had no friends and a mother who was always out drinking and fucking random guys. She must have had _some_ reason to completely abandon her life and follow a creepy, child molesting stranger."

For what seemed like the millionth time that day, the old man sighed. "Regardless, we can't stay here forever. A decision has to be made."

At that moment, Naruto emerged from the room. He shot them a tired grin as he closed the door behind him, obviously doing his best to appear happy and optimistic. "Tayuya-chan's doing fine. She woke up a few minutes ago."

"Good timing, we need to speak with her."

Before any of them could move to stop him, he walked into the room and stood at the foot of Tayuya's bed.

"Are you feeling any better?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay. The whole Earth Country thing just caught me off guard." Noticing the grim expression on the old man's face, she narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

Jiraiya sucked in a large breath of air, knowing what the reactions of the two shinobi standing behind him would be after his next sentence. "Right now, you have two options; one, you can put your fears aside and come with us to the Earth country, or two, you can stay in the Fire country with Anko until we return."

"Ero-Sennin!"

"Jiraiya!" Naruto and Anko yelled simultaneously, both equally outraged by his statement.

The man held up his hand, temporarily silencing their protests. "I know you care about Naruto, and I know you care about his progress, so I'm sure you understand why this decision has to be made," he explained, staring straight into the girl's eyes.

Naruto refused to give up. "But, Ero-Sennin––"

"Naruto," Tayuya said, cutting him off before he could finish his sentence. "He's right. I can't get in your way. Your enemies aren't gonna wait around for me to suck it up."

The blond opened his mouth to argue, but the piercing glare the redhead sent his way silenced him just as quickly. Defeated, the blond let his shoulders drop. "So what're you gonna do?"

"What the fuck kind of question is that? I'm going with you!"

"Yes!" Naruto yelled,running over and enveloping her in a tight hug. Noticing the way her body instantly froze, he quickly let her go and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, but are you sure you're okay?"

Tayuya averted her gaze, causing his smile to drop into a frown. "I'm fine, don't worry about it." She raised her eyes to look up at Jiraiya. "When're we leaving for Earth country?"

"Tomorrow morning, preferably. With the training we'll be doing on the way, it'll take a good two weeks for us to get there. That'll give you some time to calm down and get your emotions in order."

The girl nodded her head, lowering her eyes to her clasped hands. "I'll be ready to go by then."

If it was possible, Naruto's frown deepened. He hated the way her voice wavered as she spoke, and he hated how weak and subservient she was acting. Not for the first time, he wondered just what had happened in her life up until they'd met, and with the way things were going, it looked like he was close to finding out.

Nodding and smiling at Tayuya in what he hoped was a comforting fashion, Jiraiya left the room, two sets of eyes glaring into his back. They knew he was right, but that didn't mean they had to like it.

"We should let her get some rest," Anko said a couple of seconds after the sannin left, grabbing Naruto's arm. In a surprising show of defiance, the blond ripped his arm out of the woman's grasp, shooting her his meanest glare.

"I'm staying with Tayuya-chan." His voice, normally light with a hint of humor, held a ferocity that neither of the kunoichi had ever heard from him before.

For her part, Tayuya was floored. His reaction was not only unexpected, but completely unnecessary. Simply saying that he wanted to stay probably would've sufficed knowing how hard Anko tried to push them together.

"I'm fine with it," Tayuya quickly interjected, noticing the way Anko's eyes narrowed. She didn't want Naruto to die so soon after they'd been reunited.

Anko looked from Naruto to Tayuya and back again before frowning deeply at the blond. "Fine, but only because Taya-chan says it's okay. I'll be back in a few hours to check on you," the woman said, obviously more to Naruto than to Tayuya.

As soon as the woman closed the door, Tayuya turned to her teammate. "You shouldn't provoke Anko like that. She jokes around a lot, but I'm pretty sure she could kick your ass from here to Kumo."

Naruto cracked a grin. "That's not very far since we just left the border."

"Funny," she snorted, a small, forced smirk appearing on her face at his joke.

"Why didn't you tell me you were from the Earth Country?"

The girl shrugged uncomfortably, eyes flickering back to her clasped hands. She knew it was only a matter of time before he'd ask. Up until now, she'd shrugged off his questions about her past, using her superior wit and intelligence to distract him. Somehow, though, she didn't think that would work this time. "It never came up."

"Well, why don't you want to go back? Did something happen there?" Seeing that she had no intention of answering his questions, he continued. "You're my best friend. When I...killed Misumi, you were there for me. When I told you about the Kyuubi, you didn't treat me like I was any different. You even _laughed_ about it. You've always tried to help me any way you could, Tayuya-chan. It's my turn to help you."

"Naruto, if you're going to try to guilt trip me into telling you, just get the fuck out." She could tell by the way his mouth set itself into a firm line that he wasn't pleased with her ultimatum, but the blond wisely shut his mouth and sat down in the chair at the head of the bed, obviously doing his best not to pout. She almost smirked again at his antics, but she really wasn't in the mood to smile.

She slipped under the covers to hide her face from his searching eyes. She was a little flattered that he was so concerned for her well-being, but the steely gaze he regarded her with was more than she could bear at the moment.

"We're still friends, right?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.

Tayuya fought back a groan. "Don't pull this shit. Not now."

Unfortunately, her warning did little to deter him. He continued to recite her words back to her, pissing her off more and more with each word that slipped past his lips. "You can tell me anything. There's nothing you could say that would make me not want to be your friend. I'm just trying to help––"

Fed up, she sat up in the bed and pointed at the door. "Get the _fuck_ out."

"Tayuya-chan––"

"GET OUT!" she yelled, throwing her pillow at his head. She was miffed, but unsurprised, that he easily dodged it.

At that moment, the door to the hotel room opened and Anko flew into the room. Before Naruto could stand to his feet, the woman had his arm behind his back and her forearm underneath his neck.

"You heard her, chibi. it's time to go."

The blond struggled for a few seconds, but her grip was iron clad. Realizing he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon (except outside), he stopped trying to escape and allowed Anko to shove him towards the door.

Tayuya watched them go with mixed emotions. She wanted to tell him––she really did. She knew that he of all people wouldn't judge her for her past. Hell, his early life was probably worse than hers, and she didn't exactly spend her formative years running through fields of daisies and buttercups.

Grabbing the only remaining pillow, the redhead sighed loudly and slammed herself back onto the bed. This sucked. For the past twelve years she'd avoided thinking about her hometown. Now, however, it looked like she didn't have a choice but to confront the one thing she'd tried her damnedest to forget.

It was going to be a long two weeks.

––––––––

Tayuya awoke with a start, eyes shooting open to stare at the ceiling. It wasn't unusual for her to wake up this way. It was probably due to some sort of nightmare, but by now, she'd managed to master the art of forgetting her dreams as soon as she opened her eyes.

"Feeling better?" Naruto whispered, voice soft and even in the darkness of the room.

She jumped slightly at the sound of his voice, a little annoyed that she hadn't been able to sense his presence immediately. Rather than admit to herself that he'd gotten better at hiding his presence, she decided to chalk it up to her current mental state. She slowly sat up in bed, rubbing the sleepiness out of her eyes. "What time is it?" she asked, blowing off his question.

"Six in the morning."

It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust, but she eventually managed to pick his shadowed form out of the darkness. He was currently leaning back in the cushioned chair next to her. "You didn't stay up all night watching me, did you? 'Cause that's just fucking creepy."

A small grin appeared on Naruto's face. "Not all night. Just most of it."

She blinked at how easily he admitted it, unsure if he was pulling her leg or not. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little touched if he was telling the truth. Still, he couldn't know that. "I don't need you to dote on me all the time. I can take care of myself."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "I know, but it makes me feel better to know that you're okay." The blond paused, apparently just realizing that she'd never answered his question. "Are you?"

Tayuya rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just freaked out a little because I wasn't expecting it, but it's not a big deal."

Surprising them both, the blond reached out and grabbed her hand. "I'll be there with you when we cross the border. Don't worry, okay?"

Reflexively, she flinched. Her first reaction was to snatch her hand out of his grip, but remembering what Shizune had said over a year ago about Naruto being easily hurt by things like that, used all of her willpower to keep her hand still. As if he could sense her unease, Naruto tightened his grip on her until she relaxed. "Thanks," Tayuya mumbled, an uncharacteristically shy smile appearing on her face.

A sudden flash of light interrupted their brief moment, and both teenagers turned in surprise to see a mischievously grinning Anko holding up Tayuya's small, silver camera. "Shizune's gonna love this one."

"Fuck, would you stop sneaking up on us?" As if just realizing what they were doing, Tayuya ripped her hand out of his and shoved it into her lap. It took her a few seconds, but she eventually processed the woman's words. She looked at Anko with the evilest glare she could manage. "Have you been sending these pictures to Konoha?"

The woman's grin widened. "Maaaybe."

"You fucking bi––"

"They're serving breakfast now," Naruto interrupted, standing to his feet. "You still like strawberry crepes, right? Let's go eat, it'll help you feel better."

She fumed for a few more seconds, not yet willing to let go of her anger. However, the promise of strawberry crepes ultimately won her over. She hadn't eaten much since her freak out, and now that she was better, her stomach was punching her in the intestines in protest. "Fine." Shooting Anko one last dirty glare, she tossed the covers aside and slid out of the bed. Unfortunately, she'd forgotten that she was only wearing a pair of panties.

Luckily for him, Naruto had the presence of mind to turn his head away from her bare legs the instant he saw them.

Swearing loudly, Tayuya threw the covers back over herself, face burning with unhidden embarrassment.

Naruto quickly walked towards the door, knowing she wouldn't move until he was gone. "I'll go down first." he called, already heading down the hallway.

As soon as he closed the door behind him, Anko gave Tayuya a toothy grin. "He definitely got a good look."

The redhead reeled on her teacher, eyes blazing and teeth bared. "What the hell is your problem? Why do you keep doing this shit?"

The woman shrugged. "Because it's funny." Before the girl could say another word, Anko tilted her head towards the door. "Shouldn't you be going downstairs? Naru-chan's gonna wonder what happened to you."

Realizing that nothing she did or said would have any effect, Tayuya slid off of the bed and angrily stormed over to her bag, ignoring the stiffness and groaning of her joints. She slipped on a pair of training shorts, ran a brush through her hair a few times, and licking her finger, she wiped the crust from around her eyes. Shooting Anko one last dirty look, she ripped open the door and slammed it behind her, reveling in the satisfyingly loud bang that the action caused.

––––––––––––––––

Naruto crouched down on the tree branch, eyes darting around the forest in an attempt to find any sign of life. Reasonably sure that the coast was clear, he hopped from the tree towards the ground––only to be pierced through the heart by a kunai. Shortly afterwards, he exploded in a puff of smoke.

A dozen meters away, Tayuya cursed. _Of course_ it was a kage bunshin. It was _always_ a fucking kage bunshin. Now that Naruto had her position, she needed to move, and fast. She dropped to the dirt and sprinted deeper into the forest, trying as hard as she could to be quiet. However, her efforts were in vain.

The blond tackled her to the ground, driving her down hard into a pile of leaves. She managed to kick him off, only for him to explode in another puff of smoke.

Not even a second later, two more Narutos jumped on top of her. She barely fended off their attacks, blocking the kicks with her shins and the punches with her forearms. Using the momentum from one of the clones' punches, she spun into a vicious roundhouse kick, dispelling it instantly.

Now that it was one on one again, she felt much more comfortable taking him on.

"Sorry, Tayuya-chan." The clone, much to her surprise, exploded into a puff of smoke. She'd been certain that that was the real one.

"Would you stop with the shadow clones already?" she yelled, stomping her foot in anger. She jammed her hand into her weapon's pouch and grabbed her flute, officially fed up with doing things the nice way.

She put the instrument to her lips and began to play a slow, sleepy tune. She skillfully weaved her chakra into each note, activitating the seals engraved in the flute to carry the sound further.

Deeper in the forest, Naruto grinned. Was she really going to send her demons after him _again_? While they were really annoying to deal with, they were painfully slow. Even their creepy chakra eating thing did little to affect him since he had so much extra to spare, so she usually didn't bother using them against him. Knowing her, she was probably only going to use them to push him into some trap or another. While waiting for her doki to appear, to his surprise, he felt himself begin to grow weaker in the knees. His head suddenly felt too heavy for his neck, and if hadn't already been on the ground, he might've fallen and broken something. Utterly freaked out, he sprinted to where he believed Tayuya to be.

Weirdly enough, the closer he got, the weaker he felt. Realizing that running was probably a bad idea in his current state, he slowed down and walked the last dozen or so meters to his teammate.

"What...what _is_ that?" he asked, panting and struggling to stand.

"It's a tune I've been working on. It's not quite working the way it should, though," she frowned, staring at the instrument with disappointment. "Maybe I should raise the pitch?"

"Wait, so what is it supposed to do?"

Tayuya grinned mysteriously, shoving her flute into her pouch. "You'll find out one day."

He started to badger her for answers, but a loud, slow clap sounded from behind them. Both teens turned to see Jiraiya approaching with Anko in tow. "Not bad. Your taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu are all acceptable so far. As a result, from now until we leave the Earth country, we're going to be training you to combat the Sharingan specifically."

Naruto stiffened, instantly forgetting about Tayuya's jutsu. "Because of Sasuke?"

Jiraiya nodded his head, recognizing the familiar determined glint in his eyes. "Yes, but more importantly, to fight Itachi. You'll need to be able to fend him off without looking into his eyes."

At that moment, Anko pulled a scroll from her pack.

Before she could say a word, Naruto piped up. "Is that the scroll Kakashi-sensei gave you when we left?"

A little surprised that he remembered something so minor from so far back, Anko shrugged. "Yeah, it contains notes on how to fight the Sharingan. Some of these are based on the first Hokage's tips, and some of these are just untested ideas we've all managed to come up with. We'll be trying them out one by one until we find something that works."

"Am I going to have to learn this stuff, too?" Tayuya asked.

Jiraiya rubbed his chin, tilting his head as he thought it over. "It couldn't hurt. Since we're apparently training you to fight together as well as alone, there's a good chance you'll also have to face them."

Naruto's face instantly hardened. "I don't want Tayuya-chan to help me fight Itachi."

The girl blinked. "Excuse me?" Tayuya asked, largely taken aback by his statement.

"Itachi and Sasuke-teme are my problem. You shouldn't have to fight my battles for me."

Almost immediately after the words left his mouth, Naruto regretted them. The redhead's face was the definition of fury, and he was hardpressed to remember a time when he'd ever seen her so angry.

"So it's okay if you risk your life killing Misumi to protect me, but it's not okay for me to do the same? What happened to all that shit you said before about both of us beating up Sasuke and Orochimaru together?"

"That was before. You...it's different now," he mumbled.

Unfortunately, she was far too angry to hear what he had to say. She was pissed, and taking a step closer to him, she raised her voice. "What are you trying to say? Huh? That I'm too fucking weak to hold my own? That I'm gonna get in your way? Don't hold back on my account. Say what you want, I'm listening."

"She has a point. Taya-chan is just as good as you are––probably better. Not only that, but she's the best genjutsu user I've ever seen after Kurenai and the Uchiha clan. She could really help you in battle," Anko cut in an attempt to defuse the ticking time bomb otherwise known as Tayuya. All of the progress she'd made over the past year with stemming the redhead's temper was unraveling right before her eyes.

Naruto was silent. He knew what Anko was saying was true. He knew having Tayuya along with him would double his chances of survival. Still, that did little to lessen his concern. "But what if you get hurt?" he mumbled, slowly beginning to realize that his argument was wearing thin.

"What if _you_ get hurt?" Tayuya instantly shot back.

Helpless and out of ideas, Naruto turned to his teacher. "Ero-sennin..."

"i have to agree with the women on this one. You won't be able to take on Itachi alone, especially with your genjutsu at the level it is. If she's able to support you from afar, you'll stand a much better chance."

Naruto narowed his eyes, obviously displeased with the way the conversation had gone. He really had no good reason besides wanting to keep her safe, and since she was a shinobi, that wasn't a particularly strong argument. Danger was pretty much their job description, and death was an occupational hazard.

Realizing this, he crossed his arms and pouted. It wasn't like there was anything else he could do.

Anko rolled her eyes at his childishness. Even if he'd shot up by a few inches, he was still a brat. "Anyway, we'll also be working on your genjutsu training more. Honestly, the only ones who can really help you with this are Taya-chan and Jiraiya. They'll mostly just work on ways to break them, though I'm not sure how much it'll help against the Sharingan."

"It can help," Tayuya cut in, seemingly calmer than she'd been only a few minutes prior now that it'd been decided she'd be able to fight. "Even if it's a powerful one, it's still a genjutsu. There are ways to break almost anything, and if we can strengthen his mind enough to recognize when a genjutsu has been cast, breaking it won't be impossible. Pain will be the most effective method given his healing factor and tolerance. We can also try to teach him how to temporarily stop his chakra flow, although I'm not sure if it's possible since he has so much of it. The only thing that may be impossible to defeat is Itachi's Mangekyou. I've heard Orochimaru bitch about how unfair that was since I joined him."

Jiraiya nodded, a little surprised at the amount of knowledge she possessed for her age. "Couldn't have said it better myself. Now, since you're already proficient with genjutsu, Anko and I were thinking of teaching you something completely different."

Tayuya lifted her eyebrows. What else could there be? Other than improving upon her taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu, there was nothing.

As if reading her mind, Anko answered her question. "Along with continuing in your taijutsu and ninjutsu training, we're going to be working on your tactics."

"My...my tactics?" Tayuya asked, more than a little confused by this.

"You're a brilliant girl who has a natural sense for battle and strategy, but that ability only seems to manifest itself in the middle of a fight. We want to work with you in using it before your back's against the wall, and it'll also help you and Naruto work better together as a team. You have a good head on your shoulders, Taya-chan, but if we're going to take on the Akatsuki, we need someone with an amazing one."

For the first time since they'd left Konoha, Tayuya felt an indescribable amount of pressure. It was almost as if she was saying their victory depended on her. "I...I can do that," she mumbled, more than a little trepidation in her voice.

Sensing her fear, Anko grinned. "Don't sound so nervous. Like I said, you're a bright girl, Taya-chan. It'll take you two or three months max to pick up on what we're trying to teach you. Now, if you were Naruto, you'd have a real reason to be afraid."

"Hey!" Naruto yelled from his position on the opposite side of Tayuya.

"So that's what we're doing for the next five months. Any questions?" Jiraiya asked.

The teens glanced at each other, both still a little upset about their earlier disagreement. Still, now that things had been decided, there really wasn't much for them to argue about.

"I'll take that as a no. Let's pack up the campsite and head out."

The group split up and began to clean, preparing for the next step in their journey.

––––––––––––––

"Listen up, chibis. The first, and most obvious thing you need to know is that you can't look into the sharingan. _Ever._"

Both teens rolled their eyes. After another week of walking and training, they were within fifty miles of the Earth Country. While Naruto had been concentrating on nothing but genjutsu during that time, Tayuya and Anko had been poring over scroll after scroll of accounts of famous battles and deducing what strategies the winning side had used and why.

As expected, Naruto's progress had been slow. He was only able to break Jiraiya's weakest genjutsu fifty percent of the time, and that was using the pain method they were hoping to avoid. On the bright side, his pain tolerance was steadily increasing.

Tayuya, however, was actually doing fairly well. She was now in the process of deconstructing the battles and coming up with her own, arguably more effective strategies. She still had a long way to go, but both she and Anko were confident that they had a handle on the basics. The rest was just about practical experience.

"No way, really?" Tayuya groaned sarcastically in response to Anko's explanation.

Frowning, Anko elaborated. "I don't think you understand. If you look into his eyes, that's it. You remember what happened to Sasuke and Kakashi, right?"

Naruto slowly nodded his head, a grim frown appearing on his face. They'd both been put into a coma by Itachi's genjutsu, and it was only thanks to Tsunade that they were able to wake up.

"All it takes is a glance," Anko continued. "With Itachi, things become even more complicated. He can trap you just by pointing his finger. So, from now on, you're only allowed to look at a person's feet."

Tayuya raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"It's exactly how it sounds. From now until we get to the Earth Country, you can't make eye contact with anyone. Learn to read their expressions and mood based solely on how they move their legs and feet. Not only will it train you to not look into the Sharingan, but it'll help you learn to read people a little better in general. It's much easier to mask a facial expression than it is to mask the expression of an entire body."

"That's...really stupid," the redhead said.

"Regardless of what you think, I hear it's how the First Hokage dealt with Uchiha Madara. Well, that in conjunction with using the reflections from the water at the Valley of the End. As I was saying, most people often move their feet before anything else. You'll learn to pick up on little nuances and be able to know what they're going to do before even they fully know. Now, it's going to be really hard at first, but after a couple of weeks, it should be like second nature to you. Alright, first training exercise––try to fight each other without making eye contact. Keep your eyes focused solely on each other's feet."

That's it? Easy!" Naruto said, turning to look at Tayuya. Unfortunately, his eyes instantly went to hers, only dropping to her feet after half a second.

Anko frowned. "You can't do that. Your eyes need to go straight to her feet. We'll expand upon this when we reach the Earth Country. We're supposed to be visiting a friend of Jiraiya's who's apparently some kind of taijutsu expert."

Her interest piqued, Tayuya turned to look at Anko, just barely remembering to stare at her feet. "Who?"

"I'm not sure myself, but according to him, we might not even need to use this method. Anyway, practice amongst yourselves," she drawled, waving her hand in a shooing gesture as she walked away.

"What kind of taijutsu style could be more effective than this?" Tayuya drawled sarcastically, making sure that the woman was still well within earshot.

"Who knows? Instead of thinking about that––" Naruto threw a sudden kick at her midsection, smirking when it made contact. "––You should be concentrating on our fight!"

Tayuya grunted and held her stomach, wincing a little from the pain. A slow, angry grin appeared on her face, and after a couple of seconds, she stood up and assumed a combat stance, staring down at Naruto's feet. "This may be the stupidest idea that I've ever heard of, but you're still fucking dead."

Her grin widening, she launched herself at him with full force, fully intending to make good on her threat.

**AN: AAAAaaaaaa such an awkward chapter to write.**


	30. Chapter 30

**The Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 30**

Naruto watched her walk with furrowed brows, unable to ignore the tension in her body that seemed to grow tighter and tighter with each step she took. At this train of thought, the blond blinked in surprise. After only a few days of training, he was actually starting to get the hang of only concentrating on a person's feet. He was doubly surprised that he could judge her mood based solely on the way her feet were moving.

"Ne, Tayuya-chan," Naruto mumbled, keeping his voice low to avoid catching the attention of their teachers. He noticed a small jump in her step before she spoke, leading him to believe that she'd been lost in her thoughts.

"What?"

"Are you...okay?"

Tayuya sighed with annoyance. "If you're talking about my freak out, I told you––I'm fine."

"Really?" he asked, eyes studying her feet in an effort to judge her honesty. It was becoming really annoying not being able to look at her face.

"If I need your help, I'll let you know." Tayuya almost groaned when she heard that familiar short intake of breath, signaling that he was about to say something else.

Luckily, Anko chose that exact moment to interrupt them, saving the redhead from Naruto's probing questions. "From this point on, no speaking. We're going into stealth mode until we pass the border," she called from her place up front with Jiraiya. Her voice had the usual, teasing tone Tayuya had become accustomed to over the last year and a half, but there was an unmistakable seriousness in her overall demeanor. They were about to sneak into enemy territory, and if they were caught, things could get very ugly very quickly. At worst, that would mean another war between Iwa and Konoha, and at best they'd have to fight and brainwash the patrol.

For her part, Tayuya was relieved. She could sense Naruto's worry, and it was only a matter of time before he would've begun to annoy her with his questions––and she really didn't want to have to kick his ass so soon after reuniting. Besides, the silence would give her time to think.

Although she was still wary of being in the Earth country again, the closer they got to the border, the less afraid she became. After two weeks of ridiculously tough training––moreso mental than physical––she'd been able to come to terms with returning home.

The thing that concerned her most was what she would do once she got there. It'd been almost twelve years since she'd left her old village to join Orochimaru, and she doubted that anyone would remember her. Not that she was complaining. There was really only one person she was even remotely interested in seeing, and there was no guarantee that they were even still alive. In a weird, somewhat morose way, she actually hoped that they were dead. It'd give her one less thing in life to worry about.

A tentative hand slipped into hers, breaking her out of her thoughts. Reflexively, she glanced up to see Naruto's gloved hand tightly gripping hers. Her first instinct, like usual, was to rip her hand out of his and move away. However, she surprisingly found herself calming down.

Since she couldn't talk, she squeezed his hand to show her thanks. It was odd. For some reason, she wasn't so adverse to him touching her. If anyone else had tried to hold her hand she'd kick the shit out of them, but Naruto was different. Whenever he was close to her, she felt calmer. More comfortable.

On one hand, this train of thought scared her. Relying on someone else for comfort went against everything she'd been taught since she was a child, and the more attached she became to someone, the more power she was giving that person to completely fuck her over––just like Misumi had done all those years ago.

On the other, she somewhat welcomed it. Naruto would never intentionally hurt her––that much she was sure of. He didn't want anything from her except for her. He didn't want her talent, her body (At least, she didn't _think_he wanted her body...), or even her approval. She couldn't say that about any other person she'd ever met in her entire life.

A finger snap from Anko grabbed her attention, and she looked up at the woman's feet to see that she was making a sudden turn off of the path. Since her hand was already in his, she pulled Naruto along with her, just in case he'd missed the signal.

They walked for another ten to fifteen minutes in complete silence, each of them on pins and needles as they navigated the steadily thinning forest that lead to the Earth Country. Tayuya realized they'd made it across the border when the stiffness in the way Anko had been walking slightly dissipated.

"We're across the border. As promised, you can stop staring at each other's feet now. We're in enemy territory, so we can't afford to have you miss anything because you were staring at the ground."

Tayuya, relieved by this, instantly looked up at Naruto. Her heart jumped into her throat when she saw that he was staring back at her, an equally surprised expression etched into his own face.

He smiled brightly at her, looking––to her, anyway––a little sheepish. Despite the situation, she found that she couldn't turn away. She hadn't seen his face in almost a week––the last time being when she'd woken up early to find his sleeping face only a foot away from hers.

Although she tried to fight it, she couldn't stop the small smirk that popped onto her face. She'd forgotten exactly how infectious his smile could be.

"We'll travel inwards for another three miles or so until we reach my regular campsite. It's a small cave I burrowed into a rock during the war, and unless you scream as loud as you can, it's relatively soundproof thanks to a few seals and its proximity to a running river. It's well hidden from view by the large cluster of hills surrounding it, so we should be safe inside of it for a couple of days," Jiraiya explained, eyes darting around every few seconds. It was strange to see the man so on edge, but considering that they were in enemy territory with very little cover, it was understandable.

For the most part the land was flat and rocky, broken up only by the occasional large rocky hill or mountain. Unlike in the Fire Country, if a border patrol squad came around, there was almost nowhere to hide. Their only real option would be to stay, fight, and hopefully brainwash the squad to keep them quiet. Which would be horribly inconvenient since something like that took both a lot of time and effort to do.

"We'll be making a full sprint to the campsite from here in around five minutes after the next patrol comes by. Then, we'll have another ten minutes to get into the cave. Since this is a time sensitive operation, I'm giving you two permission to remove your weights," Jiraiya said.

At that, the teens exchanged wide, excited smiles. They were pretty much never allowed to take them off unless they were bathing or sleeping, and both were equally excited to see exactly how fast they had become. Wasting no time, they dropped the weights to the ground next to the scroll Jiraiya had laid out for them. The plan was for them to temporarily seal their weights until they reached the campsite, where they'd then unseal and re-equip the combined 500+ pounds of weight.

As soon as they finished, Jiraiya quickly rolled and tied up the scroll, placing it in his knapsack. "Someone's coming. Get down," he whispered, ducking down further into the small cluster of rocks they were currently hiding in.

Seconds later, a group of four young Rock ninja appeared barely a hundred feet from where they were. They hastily looked around for a few seconds, obviously bored with their job, before lazily jogging off to presumably check the next area.

They waited for another minute to make sure that the Rock-nin were indeed gone before standing up again.

"We're going. When I say go, I want you to sprint as fast as you can in that direction until you see me waiting for you," Jiraiya said, pointing straight ahead.

Tayuya lifted an eyebrow. "_You_ waiting for _us_? Have you finally gone senile?"

A smug grin appeared on the old man's face. "Like I said, you'll see me waiting for you."

The redhead rolled her eyes. She'd seen the old man move, and there was no way he was faster than her. She was thirty-five years younger and probably over a hundred pounds lighter; the gods of speed definitely favored her.

Jiraiya held up his hand to silence them, listening to make sure that no other Rock-nin were coming. "On my mark...go!" As soon as the words left his mouth, he was gone. The only proof that he'd even been there was a small dust cloud.

"Holy fuck," Tayuya breathed, shocked at how fast he had disappeared. So much for her earlier theory. He may have been a hundred years old, but he sure could move.

"Tayuya-chan! Let's go!" Naruto called from twenty feet in front of her having taken off only a second earlier.

Her heart pounding, she took off after him, running as fast as her legs would carry her. At first, she almost landed flat on her face because she wasn't expecting herself to be that fast. She was so used to carrying around so much more weight that her entire center of gravity was off. She soon got used to her speed though, and smiling widely, she lifted her head and sped up even more.

God, it felt good to run. The wind blew her hair straight back, and her eyes were beginning to dry out faster than her tear ducts could lubricate them. She soon caught up to Naruto, who looked equally elated to be using all of his speed.

"This is awesome!" he shouted over the wind storm they were creating, body little more than a blur even to her trained eyes.

"You're tellin' me!" Despite saying that, Tayuya felt her legs begin to weaken, and her breath was becoming shallower and shallower with each step. She was pushing herself to the ultimate limit, and while it felt great to go so fast, it was also extremely tiring. Luckily, she saw Anko skid to a stop ahead of them, and gradually slowing her speed, she did the same. She was a little pleased that she'd beaten Naruto by a full five feet, officially making her the fastest out of the two of them.

After coming to a complete stop, she instantly fell to her hands and knees, gasping for breath on the soft, wet grass beneath her. Realizing how odd it was that there'd be wet grass in such a dry part of the Earth Country, she grabbed a handful of the green plants and held it up to get a better look. "Why is there grass here?"

"We're next to a river," Jiraiya explained as he began to flash through a long set of handseals. "There are dozens of patches of forestry spread throughout the country if you know where to look, and I was lucky enough to find one on my first trip here. This place probably saved my life during the war." Finishing the sequence, he knelt down and pressed his fingertips into the ground. Barely a second later, one of the huge rocks behind them slowly sunk into the dirt, revealing a large, open-mouthed cave.

"Badass," Tayuya whistled, standing to her feet after catching her breath. She couldn't see inside the cave, but by snapping her fingers and listening to the echo, she could tell that it went deceptively deep.

"To open it, simply use the Rabbit, Hare, and Ox symbols and press your fingers into the ground. There's another one on the inside of the cave that accepts the same seals. Let's get inside and start camp before nightfall," Jiraiya said, grabbing his pack and walking into the dark crevice.

They spent the better part of an hour making a large fire towards the back of the cave and another hour gathering water and setting up their temporary campsite. It was just past dusk when they were finally able to sit down to enjoy a bunch of goodies Naruto and Tayuya had swiped from the hotel earlier by secretly sealing plate after plate of food into a small scroll.

Since the breakest buffet was only complimentary and didn't have anything fancy, the teens had only grabbed rolls, fruit, and pastries. It had been child's play for Naruto to slip food under the table for Tayuya to seal, and the look on the hotel staff's face when they saw how empty the buffet was sent both of them into gales of laughter.

Surprisingly it had been Naruto's idea, and all three of his fellow travelers wondered why they hadn't thought of it sooner. With full bellies and eyes heavy with fatigue, the four shinobi turned in for the night.

Tayuya slowly opened her eyes, a wide, tired yawn escaping her mouth. She wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep for another ten or so hours, but unfortunately, she had something much more important to do.

Making sure that they were all asleep, Tayuya slipped out of her sleeping bag, already fully dressed and ready to go. She grabbed the small emergency knapsack that she'd secretly packed the night before. The only things she bothered to bring with her some leftover fruit, pastries, a container of water, and her weapon's pouch that contained some other essential items.

She tiptoed to the entrance of the cave, Using the seals Jiraiya had told her to use to open it. She only had a window of about twenty minutes to make it to the next town or else the border patrol would find and capture her. According to Jiraiya's reports, the security got a little heavier at night––which was to be expected since no one would be dumb enough to try to sneak into enemy territory during the day.

She waited for the cave to shut behind her before slowly and carefully looking around. She didn't know exactly what time it was, so she'd have to wait for the border patrol to come by before she could leave. Luckily, she saw four dark shadows run by, and catching the glint of light from their headbands, recognized them as Iwa-nin. Playing it safe, she crouched down for another couple of minutes before running out of her hiding place.

Even though it was a little cooler than she'd expected, It was still a pretty nice night. The moon gave her just enough light to maneuver around in while hiding herself at the same time, and besides the sound of her feet as she ran along the ground, it was completely silent. She'd barely gone a mile when a large hand grabbed her wrist, nearly scaring the everliving shit out of her.

"Tayuya-chan, what the hell are you doing?" Naruto furiously whispered, anger and betrayal heavy in his voice.

The redhead felt her chest ache at his tone. She was glad that it was just dark enough to avoid clearly seeing his face. "I'm sorry, but I have to go back home. Who_ knows_when I'll get another chance? You can try to take me back, but I'm not going without a fight."

Surprisingly, a relieved smile appeared on his face, and adjusting his own travel pack––Tayuya idly wondered when he'd had time to pack one––he straightened his back and continued in the direction she was going. "Oh, is that it? Why didn't you say so? I'll come with you."

She started to protest, but after thinking about it, decided that having him with her wouldn't be such a bad thing. On the off chance that they ran into one of the patrols he'd be a big help, and hell, just having him around would make the trip easier in general. Shrugging, she followed after him.

They jogged side by side through the dense forest of rocks at a relatively quick pace, keeping as quiet as they could. They were forced to stop every half hour or so to hide from the patrols and consult their map, but for the most part, it was easy going.

After what seemed like dozens of hours, Tayuya held up her hand in a silent signal for him to stop. The sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon, and wincing painfully, she realized that they were totally fucked. Jiraiya and Anko would have their asses for this as she'd massively underestimated how long it would take to get here––nevermind the trip back.

"We'll be there in a few minutes," Tayuya whispered, pointing towards a small speck in the distance. She looked over at him and narrowed her eyes. "I'm warning you; don't say anything unless I give you my approval. Got it?"

The blond nodded his head, eyebrows furrowing slightly. He was still concerned, but even more than that, he was excited. He'd finally be able to understand Tayuya much better than he had before.

The redhead was extremely tight-lipped about her past. Anytime he asked questions about her family or heritage, she'd either change the subject, shrug, or if she was in a particularly bad mood, tell him to shut the fuck up. So far, he only knew that she was from the Earth Country and had been with Orochimaru for at least ten years––which was pathetic.

They jogged the final mile to the village, and the closer they got, the more Naruto's face fell. The village was a dump, and _that_was putting it nicely. Most, if not all, of the houses looked like were on their last leg, and the few people milling about in the sunrise looked like they hadn't had a decent meal in years.

A few of them stared at Tayuya, but after a couple of seconds, shook their heads and went on about their business, much to the redhead's relief. Luckily, red hair was much more common in the Earth Country than anywhere else, and after thinking about it, she realized they might've been staring because she was a stranger. There was no way any of them would be able to recognize her after twelve years––hopefully, anyway.

They walked through the town at a slow, leisurely pace, both of them curious about the place she had spent the beginning of her life in. For her part, Tayuya didn't remember much. The only thing that really seemed familiar was the overall depressing atmosphere, and looking at the grim expression on Naruto's face, he'd apparently noticed it too. Hell, it was impossible _not_to notice.

Finally, they reached a small house at the edge of the village. At that moment, a wave of nostalgia and memories hit her full on in the face, forcing her to take a hesitant step back. Everything was exactly as she remembered it minus the expected wear and tear. The chairs and pots that had been there when she left still sat broken and unused in their same spots, and the turtle pond, while most likely completely devoid of life by now, held the same exact floating ornaments as before. Hell, even the dead grass beneath her sandals had the same depressing crunching sound every time she took a step.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked, placing a comforting hand on her back.

Tayuya slowly nodded her head, schooling her face into a mask of indifference. "I'm fine, just got a little caught off guard." She led him up to the front door and slowly placed her hand on the handle. As if suddenly realizing something, she snapped her head around to scowl at him. "Remember what I said about not saying anything." When he nodded his understanding, she glared at him one more time before pushing open the flimsy wooden door.

Just as she'd expected, the place hadn't changed at all. It was dingier, and it looked like it could use a good cleaning, but like the outside it was exactly as she remembered it. The same trinkets sat dusty and old on the same shelves, and the same pictures hung crookedly on the same yellowed walls. She paused for a minute to stare at them, racking her brain in an attempt to remember who the people in the photos were. She knew some of them were of her mother since the woman in the pictures looked pretty identical to herself, and she guessed that the man in the pictures was her father, but that was as much as she could deduce in such a short amount of time.

She shook her head and looked away, remembering that they were on a bit of a time crunch. Granted, they were screwed no matter what time they got back, but she wasn't all that interested in sticking around. "Gramma," Tayuya called softly, cautiously walking further into the house. "Gramma, it's me. Tayuya. Are you here?"

A weak, faint gasp reached their ears, and unable to hold herself back, the redhead quickened her pace to the back of the house. She rounded the corner and almost slid to a stop on the dusty wooden floors, her eyes widening at what she saw.

"Tayuya," the old woman gasped, eyes equally wide and surprised.

Naruto, not expecting her to suddenly dash off into the house, followed as fast as he could. He too rounded the corner, and just like Tayuya, his eyes widened when he saw the old woman lying on the brown, beaten up old couch. To be frank, her grandmother looked like death.

Besides being sickly thin, the woman's eyes were sunken into her head, surrounded by dark, prominent rings. Her weathered, leathery skin seemed to hang from her bones for dear life, and her thin, white hair was pulled back into a loose, scraggly bun. A few of her teeth were missing, and the ones that were left were grayed with age. None of that seemed to register with Tayuya, though.

"I'm home," Tayuya smiled as she kneeled next to the woman and grabbed one of her tiny hands, shocking Naruto with her gentleness.

He'd never seen this side of her before. Children, flowers, small animals––she treated everything as if she hated it. He swore he even saw her kick the cane out from under an old man while they were still in Konoha, but to be fair, the guy might've mumbled something insulting towards them under his breath and likely deserved it.

To both of their surprise, the old woman quickly pulled her hand from Tayuya's and weakly slapped the girl across the face. Immediately afterwards, she fell into a coughing fit, her frail body shaking and shivering.

"I thought I told you to never show your face here again!" the old woman snapped after recovering, sounding a lot like Tayuya in her ferocity.

Tayuya felt the backs of her eyeballs begin to burn. That definitely hadn't been the reaction she was expecting. She blinked back her tears and stood up, a fierce glare suddenly appearing on her face. "Fuck you! I come back after twelve years to see you and this is how you treat me?" she yelled, fists clenched and shaking with rage.

"Nobody asked for your fucking pity," Tayuya's grandmother seethed.

The girl laughed bitterly. "Pity? You don't fucking _deserve_it. what kind of bitch kicks a four year old out and makes her fend for herself? I just came back to rub my success in your face!"

The woman scoffed, eyes rolling in disbelief. "_Success?_ _What_success? You still look like a fucking drowned street rat in your father's filthy hat. I can't believe you still wear that nasty piece of shit."

Naruto raised his eyebrows at her language. Well, that solved the mystery of where Tayuya got her notoriously dirty mouth from.

Dropping her pack, Tayuya rummaged around in her bag for a few seconds before pulling out her headband. Jiraiya had given them strict orders not to reveal their nationality to anyone, but it's not like anyone would believe a dying old woman. "Look! I'm a ninja of Konoha now! In fact, I'm on a training trip right now with one of the legendary sannin!" Pleased by the shocked look that appeared on the old woman's face, she lifted her chin into the air, confident that she was finally gaining the upper hand. "That's right, you senile old bitch. I'm doing more with my life than you _ever_did!"

"Is that all? You became a ninja of that shitty village and you expect me to be pleased?"

Tayuya suddenly turned around to look at Naruto. She seemed to be considering something for a few seconds, and apparently making a decision, grabbed the blond's arm and pulled him further into the room.

"Yeah, well, know what else? This is my _boyfriend!_ He's also being trained by one of the legendary sannin, and he's in good with the Hokage. And guess who else is training him? The famous copy-nin Kakashi!" When her great grandmother's mouth dropped open, the redhead's grin widened. "That's right, _that_ Kakashi. The student of the _Fourth Hokage_. You remember _that_faggot too, don't you?"

"Tayuya-chan..." Naruto mumbled, a little worried about the girl's mental state. Not only was she giving away some pretty top secret information to a resident of an enemy country, but her grip on his arm had been tightening more and more with each passing second. It was really starting to hurt.

As if getting a hold of herself, the woman's face fell back into disapproval. "_You?_ A _boyfriend?_Either he's fucking blind and dumb or you're lying out of your ass!"

"Yeah?" Before he could react, Tayuya reached up and grabbed the back of his neck in her hand. She hesitated for a second, but with a strong pull, she lowered his head to hers and placed an unexpectedly gentle kiss directly on his lips.

Naruto's eyes shot wide open. For a long, awkward five seconds, their lips combined in mutual shock. What surprised him the most was that he was the one to pull his head away, and even more surprisingly, she moved her head to follow before apparently realizing what she was doing and releasing the kiss. In his opinion, it lasted just a second too long for an act.

They stared at each other with unreadable expressions, both trying their best not to freak out. Tayuya quickly turned to look at her grandmother, trying her best to appear as though the kiss was nothing new. "See?" she said, voice coming out much weaker than she'd wanted it to.

In theory, the kiss was supposed to be no big deal. Until now, she'd never been able to see why people were so interested in slamming their lips against someone else's. It was just skin touching skin––at least, that's what she'd thought before. Now, she kind of understood its power. She didn't know what it was, but there was something electrifying about kissing Naruto. It actually felt...good.

Unfortunately, the woman's face remained unchanged. "Am I supposed to be impressed by that?"

The redhead's shoulders noticeably slumped. "There's just no pleasing you, is there?" The old woman didn't answer, causing Tayuya's face to darken. "You know what? Fuck you. Fuck you, fuck this town, and fuck this stupid country. Come on, Naruto, let's get out of here." Without waiting for him to follow, she nearly ran out of the house. Even though she tried to hide her face as she left, Naruto still noticed the tears rolling down her cheeks.

The blond turned around to glare at the woman lying on the bed. He was _pissed_. He'd _never_seen Tayuya cry. Hell, he'd barely seen her sniffle, and now that he had, he hated how it made his chest tighten and his own eyes burn. He took a few seconds to calm himself down before speaking lest he say or do something he would regret.

"I know you won't believe me, but Tayuya-chan's amazing. She's smart, strong, pretty, and has the biggest heart of anyone I know. She didn't deserve the things you said to her."

Naruto bowed slightly––even if she was a total bitch, she was still Tayuya's family––but before he could turn to walk away, the old woman reached out her hand.

"Wait," she croaked, stopping the blond in his tracks. "Come here."

A little confused and unsure as to her motives, he cautiously stepped towards the old woman.

"You're not her boyfriend, are you?" When the blond averted his gaze, she cracked a smile. "I knew it. That was the most awkward fucking kiss I've ever seen in my life." Just when he was about to deny her claim, the woman continued. "Take care of that girl. She's bullheaded, harsh, and sarcastic, but she's my only grandchild."

Naruto's face morphed from anger into confusion. Something wasn't adding up. "Then why did you kick her out? Why are you telling _me_this?"

"Have you _seen_this place?" she exclaimed, arms weakly gesturing towards the house. "It's a fucking dump! I couldn't let her grow up in this environment. With her temper, she'd have been dead or worse before she hit the age of ten, and my health was fading too fast for me to keep a decent eye on her. I thought she'd have a better chance anywhere else, and it looks like I was right."

"So why didn't you just tell her?" he asked, feeling his previous anger towards the woman grudgingly begin to dissipate.

"If I told her, she wouldn't want to leave. You should know how she is; she acts like she's a badass, but she's a fucking marshmallow on the inside. She'd insist on taking care of me until I died, and I don't want that for her. Not if she's really working to make a better life for herself."

Naruto slowly nodded his head. She was right. Tayuya was the kind of person who was loyal to a fault as witnessed by the many times he'd been hospitalized. They hadn't even been that close back then and she was by his bedside, waiting for him to wake up. If it was her grandmother, she'd try to abandon the training trip altogether and end up being forcibly sent back to Konoha for disobeying orders. She was smart, but not always rational.

"Tell me, is it true what she said about you? About the sannin and the copy ninja?"

Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, a little embarrassed by how much Tayuya had bragged about him. "She makes it sound more impressive than it is, but yeah."

An amused, crooked grin appeared on her face. "Then I can't let you beat her just because you have a few powerhouses training you. See that? Open it." the woman said, pointing at something behind him.

Naruto followed her shaky, old finger to see a flat, wooden chest currently serving as a table. He moved the trash from on top of it and slowly opened the box. Inside were two large old scrolls, both just beginning to fray and yellow with age. He pulled them out and walked back over to the old woman. "What are these?"

"Those are the Kinjo family's techniques and history. I only had the chance to teach her the basics of using a flute for defense, but by now––if she's kept up with her practice, anyway––she can learn the rest on her own. Oh, and give her this." She reached to the table near her head and grabbed a picture frame. "She used to stare at this picture for hours."

Naruto raised his eyebrows. So Tayuya's family name was Kinjo. He then glanced at the picture and smiled. The photo contained two adults and a child, and judging by the woman's bright red hair and the man's angular eyes, they were Tayuya's parents. Tayuya didn't look to be any more than one or two in the picture, but it was obvious based on the mile wide smile on her face that she was happy.

"As soon as you leave the Earth Country, give those to her. I don't have much time left so I want her to have them. Hell, they're her birthright as she and I are the last living members of this family. And whatever you do, don't let her come back. I know this is selfish of me, and she might hate you for awhile after she finds out, but stand your ground. She'll respect you that much more."

Nodding his head, he quickly sealed the scrolls and placed them in his knapsack. Just as he was about to say his goodbyes and walk away, the old woman's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Oh, by the way, you should really look into becoming her real boyfriend. I can tell that she loves you," the woman smirked, a knowing twinkle in her tired eyes.

Naruto's heart skipped a beat, and he could feel his entire body heating up with what he recognized as a blush. "W-what? No way! We're just friends!"

"Don't let her actions fool you; you're important to her. I know that girl, and if you actually tried, you could catch her. Think of it as a dying old woman's last wish; make that stubborn little bitch happy. Her parents and I never wanted her to become a kunoichi, but since it's too late to change that, at least let her pop out a few kids and continue her bloodline."

Apparently noticing the disbelief on his face, she continued. "If you're still unsure, I'll let you in on a little secret; members of the Kinjo family are voracious lovers. It'll be the best fuck of your life. A common weakspot amongst us is the small area just below the ear. Suck on that, and she'll do whatever the hell you want."

Predictably, Naruto's face turned the color of a tomato. Bowing one last time, he quickly jogged out of the house lest she decide to give him anymore 'tips.' The first thing he saw when he exited the house was his partner, arms crossed over her chest and eyes glaring daggers into his.

"What the fuck took you so long?" Tayuya nearly yelled, eyes wild and blazing.

A little taken aback by her reaction, Naruto blinked. His eyes dropping to the patch of skin below her right ear, he felt his face once again heat up with embarrassment. "N-nothing. I was just... grabbing some stuff."

Her face softened, morphing into a mix between anger and curiosity. "Like what?"

He pulled the picture of a young Tayuya, flanked by her parents, from his knapsack, glad that he hadn't sealed it. "Your grandma told me to take this, so I did," he said, handing it to her.

Tayuya stared at the picture with an unreadable expression. Her fingers slowly traced the contours of her parents' faces, fluttering over the dusty surface of the glass as if she were afraid the frame would break if she touched it. She then placed the picture in her pack and slipped the bag onto her back without another word.

"Let's just go," she mumbled tiredly, heading towards the entrance of the village.

They jogged out of the village at a slow, careful pace, neither one of them all that eager to get back to camp. Since it would be midafternoon by the time they got back, there was no doubt that Anko and Jiraiya wiould be awake and waiting for them with a hefty punishment.

On the way back, Naruto's mind constantly wandered to the redhead next him. Not only was he wondering what she was thinking about, but her grandmother's words kept repeating over and over in his head.

The thought of Tayuya loving him was a little too hard for him to swallow. Sure, she probably loved him as a friend or brother, but as anything more? Not to say that she was too cold for that kind of love, but at this current stage in her life, she didn't seem all that interested in it. Still, what if it as true? What if she really _did_want him to be more than a friend?

Naruto sighed inwardly, feeling the beginnings of a headache in his left temple. If he started thinking about that, he'd also have to begin evaluating his own feelings for her. He loved her––no doubt about it. She was easily one of the most important people that had ever been in his life.

He remembered the aching feeling he'd felt in his chest when he'd seen Musashi kiss her all those months ago. It was the same feeling he'd get whenever Sakura fawned over Sasuke before he left the village. Did that mean he liked her? That he saw her as more than a friend?

Naruto glanced over at Tayuya, taking in her features as she ran. Having removed her hat, her bright red hair billowed out behind her like a flame, whipping and twisting in the wind. His eyes moved to her face, taking in her sharp, feminine features. Small beads of sweat were just beginning to pop out on her forehead and cheeks, making her skin look like it was sparkling in the sunlight.

He then glanced down at her pink lips, studying the way they pursed every second or so as she worked to control her breathing. Her smile was one of the most radiant things he'd ever seen in his life. Unfortunately, Tayuya showing her true, unperturbed smile was as rare as Kakashi deciding to be on time. Which was close to never.

From memory, he could only remember seeing it three times; the first time being when she'd gotten her legs back, the second when they'd played 'hide-and-go-tag' in Juro's house, and the third when they'd been reunited after a year's time apart. Each time it had made his chest tighten, but that didn't necessarily mean that he was in love with her. If anything, it meant that he was happy for her.

Annoyingly, no matter how much he thought about it, he just couldn't clearly pinpoint how he felt about her. He would never want to ruin their friendship by trying to become something more, and besides, he still occasionally thought about Sakura. It was much rarer than it used to be, but she still crossed his mind. Shrugging, he decided that he could think about all of that later. For now, he was happy with just being her friend.

**AN: So, I'm extremely busy getting ready to graduate for the next couple of months ;-; You guys are so awesome with reviews, and it's taking me forever to reply and I feel terrible. Especially since I used to reply to all of them :/**

**EDIT: JUST BROKE 200k WORDS! YES!  
**


	31. Chapter 31

**The Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 31**

After another three long hours of jogging, Naruto and Tayuya made it back to their camp. Predictably, both of their teachers had been there waiting for them, arms crossed and faces completely void of understanding. The teens exchanged wary glances, preparing for the chewing out they were about to receive as they slowed to a stop.

Where the _hell_ have you two been?" Anko yelled, face dropping into an even angrier scowl.

"We went off to do some training," Tayuya explained, doing her best to sound as nonchalant as possible while trying to bring her heart rate down to a normal level.

Anko's expression remained unchanged. "So you left in the middle of the night for almost nine hours to train?" When neither of the genin answered, her frown deepened. She turned her glare solely on Tayuya. "Do you know how much trouble you would've been in if Naruto weren't with you? As long as you're on this training trip, you are _not_ allowed to run around unsupervised. One thousand pushups, no breaks, right now. And this is just the _beginning_ of what you're going to do to make up for your stupidity."

Tayuya opened her mouth as if she had something to say but quickly closed it again. No amount of arguing could get them out of this one––that much she was sure of. Besides, some strenuous exercise might help her keep her mind off of her bitch of a grandmother. Sighing loudly, she pulled off her pack and tiredly joined Naruto on the ground, getting to work on her punishment.

Anko personally watched them do the first two hundred before walking over to where Jiraiya was currently seated in the cave, writing some sort of seal or another.

"Do you buy it? That they went off to train?" The woman asked, leaning over to see what he was working on. Predictably, the paint strokes all looked like gibberish, so she plopped down a few feet away from him.

Jiraiya rubbed his chin, face unusually thoughtful. "Not at all. However, both of them were acting a little strange when they came back. Almost as if they've done something they shouldn't have."

The woman paused. Something they shouldn't have? Knowing Jiraiya, that could only mean one thing. Anko's eyes popped wide open and she stared over at the exercising teens with disbelief. "You don't think––"

"Unfortunately, it's a possibility. They _are_ teenagers, and they _do_ spend an inordinate amount of time together. It was bound to happen sooner or later."

"Shit," Anko murmured, biting her thumbnail. "Shit."

Jiraiya nodded his head, agreeing with her reaction. "I believe that Tsunade also thought this would happen, and it's probably one of the many reasons she sent Tayuya on this trip with Naruto. Though, if I know Tsunade at all, I don't think that she expected it to happen _this_ fast."

Apparently too nervous to stay seated, the jounin hopped to her feet and began to pace within the narrow confines of the cave. "We're jumping to conclusions. Tayuya wouldn't let that happen. Not in a million years."

The sannin raised his eyebrows. "Really? A girl who's probably been lonely all of her life suddenly gets close to a boy who, let's face it, is also lonely and cares deeply for her? If this were one of my books, they'd have made love on a river bank beneath a full moon by now."

Anko's face scrunched up as if she'd smelled something foul. "That's _disgusting_. They're _children_!"

"Tayuya's sixteen now. Even amongst non-shinobi she's no longer a child. I think you should talk to her," Jiraiya suggested, rolling up the scroll he'd been working on.

Anko froze. "Do you mean, _the_ talk?" When Jiraiya nodded, she crossed her arms under chest and snorted. Since she'd grown up while serving Orochimaru, there was a very good chance that Tayuya had never actually learned anything about sex or relationships other than what she'd gleamed from books, movies, or other shinobi. She didn't want Tayuya to learn about it the way she had since trial and error was risky at best. On the bright side, they'd never have to worry about a baby. "Fine, but if _I'm_ going to talk to _her_, _you_ have to talk to Naruto."

"I've already given it to him. In fact, we had an indepth discussion about sex when we went to find Tsunade. I had to make a lot of stops at a lot of brothels, so..."

Anko held up her hands, face dripping with disgust. "You don't have to say anymore. Please, don't say anymore." The woman dropped back to the ground, crossing both of her arms and legs. "You know, when I signed up to become a shinobi, I didn't do it to become a babysitter," she spat, obviously displeased with her new task.

"We're shaping what could very well be the most powerful tandem in Konoha history. Don't you think it'd be worth it to say that you trained them?"

"Pretty words don't work on me, Jiraiya_-sama_," she said, sarcastically stressing his honorific. Still, she had to admit that it'd be pretty neat to say she had a part in something like that. Making up her mind, she lightly nodded to herself. She'd talk to Tayuya tomorrow if the chance arose.

–––––––

Sweat pouring down their faces, Naruto and Tayuya lie face up on the ground, both gasping for breath. After doing 1000 pushups, Anko had immediately made them do 1000 squats––something that they were just now finishing two hours later.

All things considered, their punishment wasn't too bad. If they hadn't just run over fifty miles up and back from Tayuya's village, it'd have been a breeze.

Eventually their breathing slowed to a normal rate, and Naruto turned his head to look at the girl lying to his right. Her chest was still heaving pretty heavily––to be fair it was at his eye level––and it was noticeably wet with her sweat.

"Ne, Tayuya-chan..." he asked, struggling to even say her name.

Tayuya narrowed her eyes, noticing the slight pause before he spoke. Whatever he was going to ask her wouldn't be good. "Yeah?"

Naruto took a deep breath. He wasn't hoping for much, but he had to ask anyway. "What happened? With your family, I mean."

Tayuya sat up to look at him, studying his expression in the dim light of the cave. It was clear that he was trying not to appear too curious, but unfortunately, he couldn't hide the worried look in his eyes. Rolling her eyes, she shrugged her shoulders and wrapped her arms around her legs. "Whatever, you might as well know since you've already seen my bitch of a grandmother and everything." She sucked in a large breath of air and exhaled slowly, trying to figure out where to begin.

"My parents were shinobi. So was my grandmother, even though she's a decrepit old hag now," She started, eyes focusing on something off to his left rather than on him. "We used to be a really powerful clan, but during the Great Shinobi War, most of our members were killed off. The few that were left were hunted down and murdered by their own country for something my parents did."

"Everyone said my parents were traitors. I don't think they were, though. They killed a fellow shinobi who had gone out of control and was planning to restart the war with Konoha. Problem is, this guy was like some big shot or something with a lot of connections, so the Hidden Rock were kinda pissed at them for taking him out. They burned my house down to smoke them out and then killed my parents. I only survived because my grandmother managed to run away with me while my parents distracted them. It also helped that they didn't know my parents even had a kid."

I'm sorry," Naruto murmured, feeling even more guilty that he was holding her family's scrolls without her knowledge. He wasn't so sure if she'd forgive him like her grandmother had insisted she would.

Tayuya shrugged her shoulders, doing her best to appear nonchalant. "It's whatever. My grandmother never taught me much about my clan, and I don't remember anything about my parents except that my dad gave me this hat. Well, my old one, anyway."

The blond's mouth dropped open. He was completely stepping all over her family and her memories. He'd never wanted to take back his actions more than he did at this exact moment. "I had no idea! I didn't mean to try to cheapen your dad's gift!" he exclaimed, looking positively mortified.

Tayuya almost laughed at his expression but managed to reel it in with a supreme amount of effort. "Don't feel bad about it. Like I said before, I really love it. My old hat was the last thing my parents ever gave me, and even if it's a different hat, the feeling's still there." She paused for a second, averting her gaze. "I..."

"What's up?" Naruto asked, moving over until he was sitting right next to her. His knee accidentally bumped against hers, but neither of them noticed.

"Seeing Gramma again...it just brought back everything."

"Like what?"

Tears sprung into her eyes as she turned her head away, awkwardly wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "She used to say that I was stupid, ugly, and worthless up until the day that she kicked me out. I just kinda feel like that when I think about before."

If he hadn't known why her grandmother had done it, Naruto would've been furious. Having been subject to that kind of abuse for all of his young life, he knew firsthand how big of an effect words could have on a person, and to have them come from someone you deeply cared for? He couldn't imagine how it made her feel.

It also explained a lot about her standoffishness when it came to personal relationships. It'd taken him months to get her to trust him, and even now he'd catch her staring at him suspiciously as if trying to figure out what his true motives were.

For the first time, he felt like he saw her. To him, Tayuya had always been this immovable, untouchable _thing_. He hadn't realized it before, but he'd never thought of her as a real person. He'd bought into her bravado and had only seen her as everyone else did instead of trying to to see her for who she really was; a normal girl.

A strange feeling swelled up in his chest. After having her on this...this ridiculously stupid pedestal for so long, he didn't know what to think. He was furious with himself for taking so long to even begin to understand her, but he was also relieved to find that she was actually a person. She was just _her._

Before he himself knew what he was doing, he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into a tight hug, causing her to let out a gasp at the sudden action.

She resisted at first, but he was surprisingly strong for someone with such a wiry frame. Eventually, she relaxed against him, her head nestled comfortably beneath his chin. Shrugging on the inside, she decided that this wasn't so bad. She could trust Naruto with her life, and he would never tell anyone about what was happening. Not if he wanted to avoid the ass kicking of his life, anyway.

"You're super smart, you're beautiful, and you mean everything to me. Anyone who says otherwise has to answer to my fists. Got it?"

Tayuya was shocked when she felt the back of her eyeballs begin to sting again. Was she really going to cry? Just because he'd said something a little nice? She sniffed lightly and forced a small smirk onto her face. "You'd beat up a senile old lady just because she called me some names?" the girl joked, biting her lip in a last ditch effort to stem the tears.

"Anytime."

Unable to stop herself she felt small droplets of water begin to seep from her eyes, but strangely enough, she also found herself laughing. She knew he'd never actually do it, but it still amused her that he'd put on such a tough guy act just to make her happy. Slowly, her eyes began to close. Between the trip up and back to her village, confronting her grandmother, and the exercise Anko had forced them to endure, she had absolutely no energy left. The last thing she felt was Naruto's arms encircling her as she slipped into a deep slumber.

––––––

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

Tayuya pressed her hands over her ears in an attempt to block out the constant noise, but it was no use. Somehow, the sound of dripping water had the annoying talent of working its way deep into her ear canals.

Fucking caves. Why did they have to stay in a cave of all things? Sure, it'd been cool at first, but it was still a fucking dirt hole. A fucking leaky dirt hole at that.

As she gradually began to wake herself up and gain her bearings, she slowly realized what had happened.

She'd slept in Naruto's arms all night.

Normally this wouldn't be such a huge deal. She'd woken up with her limbs entangled with Naruto's quite a few of times over the years, and while a little awkward, she was always able to laugh it off as the two of them being exceptionally wild sleepers. This time, though, she'd completely opened herself up to him. She'd told him about her past, her feelings, and her most vulnerable points. They might as well have fucked; at least she'd have fewer morning after regrets.

Being careful not to wake him, she eased herself out of his grasp. She stared at his face for a couple of minutes, smiling at how different he looked when he was asleep. Since he had yet to get a haircut––something she'd rectify once they got to the next town––his hair was spread wildly around his head, forming a strange mixture between a halo and a lion's mane.

She ran her fingers through the thick mass of blond, remembering the last time she'd done this in the hospital all those months ago. His hair was just as soft and unruly as it had been back then, if not a little softer. Realizing exactly what she was doing, she quickly dropped her grin and stood up, more than a little embarrassed by her actions. On the bright side, no one had been around to see it. That counted for something. Right?

For a few seconds she wondered what she should do, but after sniffing herself, she decided that she needed to bathe. Badly. She was never one to care all that much about how she smelled, but at the same time, even she knew where the line between smelly and fuckass rank was. With that thought in mind, she found her pack and some fresh clothing and slipped out to the river.

Judging by the sun, it seemed to be late morning or early afternoon. They'd been more tired than she thought since they'd gone to sleep around eight or nine the previous night. She made sure to check every single bush and tree before stripping, and while she _did_ find Anko lying lazily on the grass a dozen meters away, there was no sign of anyone else in the area. Confident that she wouldn't be peeped on, she quickly stripped and plunged herself into the river. The water was cool, but since it was a little hot outside, she didn't mind much.

Lathering up with the sweet smelling soap that she'd bought in the last town (it was specifically made to keep water pollution to a minimum), Tayuya washed her body as quickly as she could. Even if there was no one in the area now, it'd only be a matter of time before Naruto woke up or Jiraiya returned from wherever the hell he was and found her naked.

As she bathed, she felt her eyes constantly shift to where Anko was currently lying. Anko had always been somewhat of a voice of reason in her head, so shrugging to herself, she decided that getting her opinion of what had happened wouldn't be a completely horrible idea. With that thought in mind, she awkwardly approached the woman in nothing more than the bath towel she'd _accidentally_ taken from the hotel.

"Hey, uh. Anko."

"Yeah?"Anko asked, not even glancing up from her magazine. When Tayuya didn't answer right away, she looked up at the girl and narrowed her eyes slightly. "...What is it?"

"I want to ask you about something."

She looked at her with suspicious eyes before fully closing and setting aside the booklet. "What?" she asked, feeling dread begin to creep into her stomach.

"Me and Naruto, well..." Tayuya fidgeted nervously, suddenly unable to make eye contact with the jounin.

The color drained from Anko's face. "You didn't."

Tayuya nodded her head, looking more ashamed than Anko had ever seen her. "It just sort of happened! Fuck, one second we're talking about some deep shit, and the next...you know."

"Okay, let's calm down for a second. Just breathe. Shit, I knew I should've done this months ago. I saw you two lying together, but I didn't think it'd go any further than that!"

Temporarily forgetting about what she was going to discuss, she cocked her head and stared down at the jounin. "Done what?"

"Tayuya...this is the perfect time to talk about this. What do you know about sex?"

The redhead took a shocked step back, instantly realizing where she was going. "Are you...are you giving me...'_the talk'_?"

"It's not 'the talk'. We're just having a casual discussion about sex." The woman coughed uncomfortably, adjusting the collar of her trenchcoat. Despite saying that it was casual, she felt nervous as hell about this. It wasn't as though she'd ever done it before. Hell, she'd never even _gotten_ the infamous talk. "So, are you sexually active?"

"Wha––no!" Tayuya yelled, face turning a light pink.

A breath of relief poured out of Anko. Of course she wouldn't sleep with Naruto. This was _Tayuya_, the girl who'd push a toddler down for staring at her the wrong way. Really, she'd seen her do it. She could smack herself for allowing Jiraiya to put such a stupid suggestion in her head. "Okay, okay, I know. Look, Taya-chan, I know what it's like to have...feelings for someone. You feel like they really understand you, they make you feel good, and hell, maybe they're just really hot. I want you to know that's perfectly normal and happens to everyone."

Tayuya could only stare at Anko in mortified horror, unable to believe that this was happening. She wanted to speak up and stop this––she really did––but words refused to come out of her mouth.

"Now, that said, you have to be careful about what you do and with whom. There are diseases you can get from unprotected sex, and trust me, I've seen some bad stuff over the years. Orochimaru himself––"

That was it. Closing her eyes, Tayuya slammed her hands over her ears. "Stop! Stop. I don't even want to imagine Orochimaru giving little boys STDs."

"What? I was just going to say that Orochimaru himself has had to make medication just to keep his soldiers from dying left and right! Get your mind out of the gutter! My point is, you should never do anything without protection, and more importantly, you should only do it with someone that you love and respect and who loves and respects you. Okay?"

Tayuya blinked. "So, let me get this straight. Sex is totally okay as long as I use protection and do it with someone who I'm all about?"

"No! That's not what––you––ugh!" the woman exclaimed, roughly scratching at her hair. She'd forgotten how hard it was to deal with teenagers. Which was funny because she herself was terrible in her teens. "Taya-chan, I forbid you to have sex for at least two years."

"Whatever, there's no one I'd fuck right now anyway. Are we done?"

Anko, rubbing her forehead to stave the headache quickly forming in her frontal lobe, nodded. "Yeah, we're done. Just remember what I said. No sex."

"Sure thing." The way she'd said it had been completely flippant and insincere, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by Anko.

Anko couldn't believe that she was thinking this, but she was _way_ too young for this.

"Anyway, about you and Naruto cuddling last night. I'm glad for you, and I know this goes without saying after our conversation just now, but do _not_ take this any further. Not until we deal with Orochimaru and the Akatsuki. Okay?" When the girl's face suddenly dropped into an angry frown, she quickly moved to explain. "You think I'm overreacting, but this is a slippery slope, Taya-chan. A relationship could distract the both of you during battle even if you two don't actually have sex. You've had some near misses in your fights up until now, you know."

Tayuya's eyes widened in understanding. It all suddenly made sense. "You've been interrupting us on purpose." When Anko didn't say anything, the redhead snarled. "I don't fucking believe this! All this shit about trusting you and treating you like an older sister and you've been trying to get in my way this whole time? I know I don't have firsthand experience in this department, but I'm pretty sure families don't do that to each other!"

"You're overreacting. Besides, wasn't it you who told me that you didn't want anything to happen between you and Naruto?"

Tayuya averted her gaze, recalling what had happened the day before. "Well, maybe I do now. Not _sex_, but..."

Taken aback, Anko felt her mouth drop open. "Are you serious?"

The redhead threw up her hands, too angry and confused to sort out her own feelings. "I don't know, maybe! Besides, it's none of your business. I'm not telling you a fucking thing anymore."

She couldn't help it; she felt betrayed. Although she was loathe to admit it, she'd actually begun to see Anko as an older sister. She hadn't told her much about her early life, but she did occasionally talk with her about stupid things like clothing, music, and sometimes, guys. Considering how often Anko talked about she and Naruto getting together, learning that she was intentionally sabotaging them literally blindsided her. Not that she was interested in Naruto that way, but it was the principle of the matter!

"We're just doing what's best for the both of you, Tayuya. You've never really cared about anyone before, so you don't know how emotions can affect you in battle. That's why I wanted you to wait a few years. You know, after the Akatsuki and Orochimaru have been dealt with. You have your whole life ahead of you if you concentrate on training and don't get yourself killed thinking about Naruto all of the time."

Unfortunately, the girl wasn't hearing it.

"If it doesn't have anything to do with training, stay out of my goddamn life. Maybe if you had just been honest from the start this shit wouldn't even be a big deal."

Before Anko could utter another word, The redhead stormed off. Luckily, she just barely remembered to put on clothing before she returned to the cave.

––––––

Three chakra infused kunai embedded themselves deeply into the rock, causing long, splintered cracks to appear on its surface. Just as quickly as they had sunk in to the stone, Tayuya used chakra strings to pull them out and send them flying into an adjacent stone, causing that one to completely shatter. The sound of running caught her attention, and she sighed with unhidden annoyance as she recognized whose they were.

"Tayuya-chan!"

The redhead angrily turned to glare at him. When she saw the concern on his face, her gaze softened. "What?" she asked, already feeling calmer in his presence. Maybe it was because she'd occasionally slept in his old jumpsuit jackets, but his presence had the unusual side effect of relaxing her.

"What's _wrong_? I've been looking everywhere for you! I was worried you ran into some trouble!"

She wanted to stay angry––she really did. Her fits usually lasted for at least an hour, but with Naruto staring at her with his furrowed brows and annoyingly wide blue eyes, she felt all of her rage whittling down into nothing. Dropping her shoulders in defeat, she sighed loudly. "Sorry, I was just thinking about something."

"Are you okay?"

"I'll get over it." To his surprise, Tayuya suddenly threw her arms around him, burying her face in his chest.

"Tayuya..." Now he was concerned. It was rare that she ever initiated any physical contact, and for it to be a hug of all things freaked him the fuck out. He was actually beginning to wonder if it was even Tayuya and not some Yamanaka who'd taken over her body. Then again, he'd just come to terms with the fact that he didn't really know her well at all, so maybe this was who she was deep down.

"Shut up for once," she mumbled into his shirt, gripping the fabric tightly in her fingers. A part of her was doing this as a mini-revenge against Anko, but a larger part just wanted to make the aching in her chest go away. So far, the only foolproof method to making her not want to kill everyone seemed to be Naruto.

Still worried, he raised his arms and wrapped them around her smaller form.

After a few seconds, she spoke again. "Don't ever lie to me."

Naruto winced. That was a tall order. There were a lot of things he was hiding from her, and even more things he hadn't been completely honest about. Besides some of the people he'd met, he hadn't at all mentioned anything about his time in Kumo. Hell, he hadn't even told her much about what he'd learned; mostly because she'd throw the hissiest of fits if she ever found out. Or, to be more accurate, _when_ she found out.

However, he had to make a split second decision. Deciding that exclusion wasn't _technically_ lying, he guiltily grit his teeth and replied.

"Okay."

––––––

Ever since they'd arrived in the Earth country, Tayuya and Naruto had been learning how to keep a stone afloat using only the chakra coming from their fingertips in order to strengthen their chakra chakra control. According to Anko, their chakra capacity was growing faster than they were able to control it.

At first, the genin had been annoyed by the task since it seemed utterly useless in the grand scheme of things. They'd have much rather spent the time learning some badass, explosive new jutsu. However, once Tayuya had accidentally cut her stone in half with the chakra, the teens instantly decided to name the skill 'fingerknife' and had been chopping anything they could get their hands on in half. After a week or so, they'd even learned how to get two chakra knives going on two separate fingers and were currently trying to increase the number to three.

Anko and Jiraiya couldn't complain much since the teens were strengthening their chakra control and it was an admittedly useful skill, but it was still somewhat unnerving to known that the genin could chop off all of their hair with only a swipe of the finger and they'd be none the wiser.

Naruto and Tayuya were currently sitting cross legged on the ground, juggling three stones on two fingers. To the average dumbass it'd look like they were using telekinesis, something Tayuya was already planning to abuse at the next town to score some pocket change.

"Not bad, I think you two have got it," Anko said with a proud grin on her face. "Your progress is much better than Jiraiya and I predicted."

"Where _is_ Ero-sennin, anyway?" Tayuya panted, leaning lazily on Naruto. Even if they weren't using much chakra, that kind of focus always tired her out. Almost instantly, he leaned his larger body against hers to help hold her up.

The action didn't go unnoticed by Anko, who frowned slightly at their proximity. If she didn't know any better, she'd say that Tayuya was intentionally trying to spite her.

"He's meeting up with a friend. He should be back within the next couple of days, so until then, we're to keep training."

"A friend?" Tayuya asked, noticing the small smirk that had popped up on the woman's face. "What kind of friend?"

"A friend who's going to help you become stronger."

At this, Naruto instantly became excited. "What's he gonna teach us?"

Anko shrugged mysteriously, an impish grin appearing on her face. "Nothing, yet. We don't even know if they'd be willing to help. Not everyone can afford to drop everything to teach a couple of brats how to not get themselves killed."

"Hey!" Naruto yelled, scowling at Anko.

"Anyway, it's almost sunset, so you're done for the day. Rest is also an important part of getting stronger." Giving Tayuya one last warning glare, she walked off to presumably take her own advice. Shortly after Anko left, Tayuya headed in the opposite direction.

Naruto watched the girl's bright red hair bounce as she walked away. "Where're you going?"

"You're not my babysitter." Despite saying that, she held up her flute case. "I'm going to practice playing my flute."

"We're supposed to rest."

"Chill the fuck out, I _am_. I'm just gonna work on my song some more."

At this, Naruto perked up. "You're writing a new song? Can I hear it?"

"No!" she yelled a little bit too loudly. She cleared her throat and glanced away. "I mean, it's not finished yet. It sounds stupid right now."

"That's impossible. You're too good for it to sound stupid." She felt her cheeks heat up. All of the compliments he'd been giving her lately was starting to get annoying.

"True, but you still can't hear it yet."

Naruto childishly scrunched up his face. "Fine, I see how it is," he sniffed, walking off in a pretend huff.

Rolling her eyes, Tayuya watched him leave. "What're you gonna do?"

"Meditate, I guess. It calms me down."

Tayuya slowly nodded her head. "Okay, I'll see you back at the campsite later."

The blond sighed. He felt bad for lying to her––especially since he'd just promised that he wouldn't––but she wouldn't get it. Not now. Besides, it wasn't a full lie. He was, _technically_, meditating.

Finding a relatively secluded spot in between two large rocks, Naruto plopped down and closed his eyes. He didn't bother to assume any kind of sitting position since, as he'd learned from the mistress of meditating herself, 'sitting with your legs crossed and your palms up makes you look like a pompous, posing asshole.' As his heartbeat gradually began to slow to a crawl, the darkness behind his eyelids slowly turned into a surprisingly well-lit sewer.

Once he was able to gain control of his 'inner self', Naruto followed the familiar orange glow at the end of the hallway until he was standing directly in front of the sleeping Kyuubi's cage.

"Hey, bastard fox, wake up! I know you heard me come in!"

**"You've been getting cozy with that wench of yours,"** The fox rumbled, not bothering to open his eyes and address him.

If Naruto didn't know any better, he'd say that the Kyuubi was teasing him. Sure, they'd come to a bit of an understanding, but they weren't exactly buddy-buddy enough to start cracking jokes at each others' expense. "Shut up, it's time to train."

At the mention of training, the nine tails finally yawned and opened his eyes. He stood to his feet and shook himself, looking disturbingly similar to an ordinary canine. Without saying a word, the fox closed his eyes and began to expel his energy.

The red chakra slowly seeped between the bars, bubbling up into a frothy, red cloud. The chakra swirled around Naruto and began to envelope him until it covered his entire body, causing the blond to wince. The strange part is that it wasn't so much _painful_ as it was hot. He grit his teeth, struggling to filter the good chakra from the demon's evil energy. Just as he was starting to get the hang of it, the Kyuubi began to speak.

**"You should try to mount your bitch. Can't you see the way she looks at you? She **_**wants**_** it."**

The genin almost choked on his spit. "Shut up," Naruto mumbled, closing his eyes tighter in an attempt to block out both the demon's voice and the image that was trying to worm its way into his mind.

Undeterred, the Kyuubi continued. **"Your children would be powerful. Think about it; Your stamina, her genjutsu talent, and **_**my**_** power flowing through their veins. You would be a**_** dynasty**_**. Your family would rule Konoha and the shinobi world for generations to come!"** he roared. His voice echoed in the small room, adding an invisible weight to his statement.

It was then that Naruto realized he was losing control. He quickly cut off the flow of chakra and backed away from the cage, forcing out the last remnants of evil chakra. Even though he'd cut the session short, he still managed to increase his chakra capacity a bit.

"Nice try, furball, but it's not that easy to distract me." If it weren't for the fact that he was a huge, evil, mass murdering demon, he'd think that the Kyuubi was pouting. "That's enough for today."

**"Think about it, brat. You know what I'm saying is true."**

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto drawled, flipping the demon off as he exited the corridors of his mind. Even though he'd just learned that there was more to Tayuya than what'd he'd previously thought, there was absolutely no way she was interested in him that way. Hell, even if she was, it'd be way too weird for them to do anything since they were such close friends.

That's all they were, after all. Close friends.

**AN: i decided to cut out an entire plot point to move things along a bit since it really wasn't important. I wrote a lot on it already, so maybe I can post it as an extra if the story ever finishes**


	32. Chapter 32

**The Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. **

**Chapter 32**

"Alright, get ready," Tayuya said, raising her flute to her lips. She felt a little bad about using one of her more terrible genjutsus on him, but he needed to get used to them. The haunting melody flowed from the instrument, and she slowly began to thread chakra into the tune. 'Magen: Mugen Onsa,' she thought, activating the technique.

As soon as the tune reached his ears, dozens of chains wrapped around arms constricting his movements. His skin began to melt off of his bones, and even though he knew it was a genjutsu and he knew how to stop it, it just wasn't working. His chakra control was just too out of sorts. Unable to take the pain anymore, he mentally formed a kage bunshin to thrust a kunai into his leg. It tired him out a lot more to make a kage bunshin without a seal, but it was the best he could do.

He was really growing tired of having to stab himself just to break her illusions, and the whole forced chakra disruption thing was spotty at best. The only advantage he had was that the Kyuubi's evil, red, chakra naturally disrupted his own pure, light blue chakra, but even that wasn't good enough for genjutsu as powerful as hers.

Tayuya quickly walked to his side, applying pressure to the rapidly closing wound. "Are you okay?"

Naruto stared at her hand on his leg before glancing up to look into her eyes. "I always am."

A smile flittered across her face. "Good." When she removed her hand, the wound had already sealed itself into just a faint pink line. She wiped away the small amount of blood left and scoffed at him. "You're so lucky. I wish I could heal most of my wounds in five minutes."

"Three and a half."

"Now you're just bragging."

A small, cocky smirk appeared on Naruto's face. "Just telling it like it is." He pushed a strand of her long red hair behind her ear to run his finger over a nearly nonexistent cut he'd accidentally given her the day before. "You heal pretty quickly, too."

Before she could reply, something in the distance caught her attention. She saw the familiar shock of white hair before anything else, and the entirely too loud clack of sandals on the ground brought wide smiles to both of their faces. The teens hopped up and ran over to him, circling him like sharks.

"Ero-sennin! Did you bring back anything cool?" Naruto shouted, bouncing on his toes.

Jiraiya almost smirked at how childlike the two of them looked as they stared up at him with large, hopeful eyes. "Afraid not."

Both teens simultaneously pouted, and this time the man did smirk.

"But guess where we're going next?"

The genin perked up a bit, their sadness temporarily overridden by their curiosity.

"Where?" Tayuya asked.

"To Sunagakure."

Tayuya's face instantly fell. Well, shit. Unless she was either dead or on an extremely long mission, there was a 99.9% chance that she would run into the bitch that had nearly killed her all those months ago. A few seconds latr, her displeasure quickly gave way to elation.

Wait. This was it. This was her chance to get the bitch back for all of the pain and suffering she'd had to endure after the fight, _and oh_, would she get her. She reasoned that she couldn't kill her, but no one would think twice if she accidentally broke both of her legs and an arm in a friendly spar. It was, after all, an occupational hazard.

Noticing the evil grin that was slowly spreading across his teammate's face, Naruto quickly put two and two together and realized exactly what she was thinking.

"Tayuya-chan, you can't try to hurt Temari."

She blinked lightly, slightly surprised that he'd been able to figure her out just based on her expression. It was kind of creepy. "It's not like you can stop me. "

"Yeah, but if she hadn't kicked your ass, you'd still be with Orochimaru and we wouldn't be friends."

His statement stopped her evil plans in their tracks. Not for the first time she wondered what would have happened if Temari hadn't flattened her under a forest, and it honestly frightened her to think of what her life would be like right now. Sure, she'd have been promoted for delivering the faggot Uchiha, but what else would she have?

The rest of her team was dead, everyone else in the Sound village were complete idiots, and Orochimaru would be too busy turning Sasuke into his new Halloween costume to give her any attention. She'd be completely alone. Yeah, she'd be allowed to do whatever the hell she wanted, but in the end that wouldn't have made her happy. Probably.

She felt a fresh wave of appreciation towards everyone who'd helped her get to this point, including the sand bitch. Sighing deeply, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Whatever, I'm still going to get her back," she spat though her tone was noticeably less angry.

Naruto grinned. "I can't wait to see Gaara again! Last time we didn't get to really talk since he had to go back home right after the mission, but now we can spend tons of time together! It's gonna be great!" Suddenly thinking of something, he curiously looked up at the man. "How long're we staying there, anyway?"

"Well, with the Akatsuki on the move and the trip coming to an end, we can't stay in one place for too long. Two months at the most."

The blond's smile widened. "That's plenty of time!"

Anko suddenly appeared from behind him, wrapping him up in a hug and pushing her chest against his back. When Tayuya frowned, she couldn't help but let out a small smirk. "Don't get too happy, Naru-chan. You're gonna be working your butt off the entire time."

"Doing what?" Tayuya asked, forcing her way into the conversation. For some reason, it bugged her whenever Naruto talked to other women. Especially when that woman was currently molesting him.

"Well, with Naruto's element being wind, it's only natural that we venture into the Wind Country to find him a suitable teacher don't you think?" Jiraiya said.

The girl shrugged. "Makes sense. What about me?"

Anko gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry to disappoint you, Taya-chan, but there really isn't much else we can teach you right now, and especially not in a couple of months. You can only expand upon the things that you already know."

Tayuya's face noticeably fell at this bit of information. She knew the trip was first and foremost for Naruto, but seriously, they couldn't teach her anything? Was it because she was still under suspicion for being an enemy and they didn't want to teach her too much in case she turned against them? She wouldn't blame them if that was the case, but they could at least tell her the truth.

"Actually..." Naruto mumbled, drawing the attention of the others.

"What? You have something to teach me?" Tayuya joked.

Rather than reply, he turned his attention to his sensei. "Hey, Ero-sennin, it's getting dark. Can we start dinner?"

The old man rubbed his chin, squinting as he looked up at the sky. As if deciding something to himself, he nodded his head. "Might as well. Right afterwards, Anko and I will scrounge up some supplies since we're nearly out of everything."

With that plan in mind, they quickly returned to their campsite and prepared dinner as night fell. Eventually, Jiraiya and Anko left to go to the nearest town for supplies, so Naruto figured it was as good of a time as any to give her the items that were owed to her.

He reached into his pack and procured the two scrolls that were given to him by her grandmother. "Since we're far enough away now, I guess it's safe to give you these."

Arching her eyebrows, Tayuya grabbed the offered scrolls. "What's this?"

He paused, not sure how to tell her. He was relieved to finally be rid of them, but still felt like kind of a jerk. Deciding to just tell her, he sighed and rubbed his hand through his long blond hair. "Your family's scrolls. I got them from your grandmother."

She held the parchments limply in her hand, eyes staring blankly in his direction.

"You...what?"

"She told me to wait until we were outside of the Earth Country to give them to you." A short breath escaped his lips. If he didn't explain this correctly, there was no telling what could happen next. "Tayuya-chan...your grandmother really loves you. She did this so you wouldn't go back there. She wants you to be happy and live your life for yourself."

As if she hadn't heard a word he said, the girl reached for her pack and began to throw her things back into it. "I have to go back."

Naruto grabbed her wrist, steely blue eyes staring into hers. "No."

"Let me go." When he refused, she struggled against his hold, anger growing more and more with each passing second.

"Tayuya-chan, calm down! Remember that they'll have to take you back to Konoha if you try to leave!"

At this, her fighting weakened. With only a few months left until they got back to Konoha, she didn't want to stop here. Not when they were so close to being finished.

It was at that moment that Naruto chose the worst time to continue speaking. "Your grandmother just wants what's best for you. That's what families do for each other."

Tayuya lost it. "What the fuck do you know?! You've never even had a family!" As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them. The hurt that flashed across his face sapped the energy from her body. She'd said, in not so many words, the same exact thing Sasuke had said to him at the Valley of the End.

"Sorry," she mumbled after a few tense seconds.

"It's okay." Just by looking at his face, she could tell that it wasn't. He released her arms and sat back down, grabbing his food to continue eating. She noticed the slow, deliberate way he ate, but she was still too angry and shocked to care.

His depressing atmosphere was beginning to get to her, so she silently stood up and stepped off into the forest with the scrolls to read them alone. After a few minutes of walking she managed to find a particularly bright clearing where the moon was strong enough to read by, so she unceremoniously plopped down directly in the middle.

She opened the scroll, and to her surprise, a worn, rolled up note slpped. Her name, and curious she unrolled it. Her eyes widened as she realized that it was a note addressed to her from her parents.

_Tayuya,_

_If you are reading this, chances are, we've passed away. Hopefully your grandmother was able to provide an adequate life for you, and if possible, she didn't pass on her filthy mouth. She can be harsh at times, but she loves you just as much as we do and would do anything to make you happy._

_There are a few things we would like to say to you. First, do not seek vengeance. Don't perpetuate the hatred caused by a generation of fools and liars. You come from a family of greats and have the strength and ability to change the world for the better._

_Second, do not become a shinobi. It's a life filled with blood and tears, and neither of us want you to go through the terrible things we did. We realize this is a tall order considering the world we live in, and chances are, you've already begun training by now. If this is true, please use the family scrolls to further your knowledge and skill._

_Third, be happy. Find love. Raise a family if it suits you, but more importantly, don't isolate yourself. People can be harsh, cruel, and untrustworthy, but find those who aren't. Surround yourself with people who love and cherish you. Your life will be much happier that way._

_We love you so, so much, and it hurts more than you know that we weren't there to see you grow up into the fine young woman we know you are._

_Love,_

_Mom and Dad_

As she finished the letter, large, fat tears began to roll down her cheeks. Before she knew it, she was sobbing.

She really thought she was done crying over how shitty her family was, but to know that these two strangers ––people she didn't even remember––cared about her so much was more than she could take. She assumed that her parents loved her, but to see them actually write it was something else entirely.

Another thing that surprised her was how good her parents were. She didn't necessarily think that they were _bad_ people, but she certainly wasn't expecting them to be the visionaries that they made themselves out to be. It made her feel even worse about the path she'd taken after joining Orochimaru.

She tried her best to limit her sobs, but it was no use. She was angry, sad, and happy all at once. Over a dozen years of emotions seemed to be pouring out of her faster than she could control them.

Eventually, she was able to calm down enough to stand. She was exhausted. Her eyes and nose hurt from too much wiping, and she was certain that she looked like an absolute mess. This time for sure, she was done crying. It was ugly, stupid, and useless, but most importantly, it wasn't who she was. She was stronger than this, and if she was going to cry over something, it wouldn't be the past.

She slipped into the sleeping bag with Naruto, finding herself wanting to be close to someone.

"Are you okay?" he asked, a little too clearly for someone who was supposedly sleeping.

"Why didn't you just tell me earlier?"

He was silent for a few minutes. Just when she thought he had fallen asleep again, he answered. "Maybe I was being selfish. I knew you'd want to stay with your grandmother, but I wanted you to stay here. With me."

She punched him on the back. "You were definitely being selfish. I like it, though."

Naruto felt an unfamiliar feeling in his chest. Her words hadn't been anything special, but the way she'd said it had seemed almost...flirtatious? He pushed himself up to stare at her, only to see that her eyes were closed. He wanted to inquire further, but he was too afraid to know what the answer would be.

–––––––––––––

"Tayuya-chan," he whispered, lightly shaking her shoulder. The girl rolled over onto her back.

"What?" she hissed, eyes glaring up at him sleepily. A few seconds later, her eyes were wide open and she was out of the sleeping bag, kneeling on one knee. Her hand reached back into the bag for her weapons pouch, strapping it onto her shorts. "Where?"

"Seven and four," he mumbled, eyes darting around the treetops for any sign of movement.

"They can't be too good if we know they're here. Either that, or they want us to know."

"Why would they want us to know?"

"Intimidation. They could be trying to confuse us, and there's probably more than two of them out there. Where's Anko and Ero-sennin? Did they get back yet?"

Naruto shook his head, strapping his sword to his waist.

"Think it's them, then? Maybe testing us?" Tayuya whispered.

Before he could answer, four kunai whizzed towards them. Thinking quickly, Naruto unsheathed his sword and knocked them all out of the air. Three shuriken immediately followed, and grabbing a kunai, Tayuya easily sent them spiraling harmlessly towards the ground. Unfortunately, the teens were late in noticing the explosive tags attached to the weapons.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Ten shadow clones instantly appeared and made a hasty wall around them, absorbing most of the blast. They flew ten or so feet before rolling and spinning themselves onto their feet, both crouched down into the same defensive stance.

"If it is them, they're not messing around,"Naruto mumbled, wincing at the painful scorch mark on his forearm. Luckily, it was already healing and would hopefully be gone within the hour.

"Let's assume it's not. Send some clones into the trees to test their skills and henge a few of them to look like me. I'll create a diversion and blend in with them to start setting up traps from twelve to five. In the meantime, make another clone of me and keep it here to hold their attention."

"I'm going into the trees too, then," he whispered.

Tayuya shrugged. "If you want." She paused, remembering the last time they were attacked. "Let's try to stick to basic techniques for now. Someone may be trying to get a feel for our abilities." With that, she reached into her pouch and grabbed a few smoke bombs, discreetly throwing them down onto the ground to create a smoke screen. She glanced back to see she and Naruto still in the clearing, surrounded by ten or so more clones. She smirked at his forethought. By creating more clones in the clearing, he could make them think the smoke was from his jutsu rather than the bombs.

She landed on a branch and immediately got to work setting up traps, moving as quickly as she could to avoid being noticed by their enemies. Thanks to constant practice and––to be honest––boredom during the time she and Naruto had spent apart, she'd managed to get her trap building time down to roughly ten seconds depending on the complexity. Since she didn't have much time, she decided to use the simplest traps she knew. Explosives would probably draw the attention of Jiraiya and Anko if they were anywhere in the area, which is exactly what they needed.

She finished setting up the traps in roughly three minutes, being careful to hide whenever she heard someone getting close. A little worried about Naruto, she jumped back into the trees to try to locate him. To her surprise, there were three separate battles already going on.

Rather than jump into the fray, she decided to hang back and support him from afar. She started to pull out her flute but decided against it, remembering her earlier warning to Naruto about showing off their skills. Since that limited them to weapons, taijutsu, and some basic ninjutsu, it would be a challenge.

She threw a handful of shuriken at the fighting shinobi, smirking slightly when one of them managed to graze an enemy. It wouldn't have been such a big deal except the shuriken had been tipped with snake venom––courtesy of Anko.

Unsurprisingly, the man instantly tore after her; much to her pleasure. As she fled, she dropped a smoke bomb behind her, masking both her path and his. She knew he was heading towards her first trap, so she dropped to the forest floor, fighting back another smirk when she heard the explosions above her. This was almost _too_ easy. Had they really gotten that good?

A few dozen meters away, the real Naruto was locked in a battle with a large, particularly muscular shinobi. The man was good; easily chuunin level, and more than likely a jounin. He wasn't wearing a headband, but the way he fought was depressingly familiar. He was from the Leaf Village.

"Katon: Karyuu Endan!" the man yelled, spitting a stream of fire in his direction.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" fifteen shadow clones appeared in front of him. They all scattered in different directions, every single one of them managing to avoid the attack.

The man looked around the forest, annoyed by having to chase him down. Fucking kids. He couldn't, for the life of him, understand why he was being sent on such a stupid mission. Even if he was the Kyuubi container, he was still a brat. They weren't even allowed to kill him!

He was ripped from his thoughts by the presence of something behind him. Was this kid really trying to sneak up on him? He spun around and threw a lazy kick, just knowing he would send the kid flying headfirst into the nearest tree. When he hit nothing but air, he furrowed his brows.

"Rasengan!" The ball of chakra hit the main square in the chest. He spun towards the ground at an awkward angle, hitting it with sickening thud––only to turn into a small log.

"Big mistake, kid." The man began to form a chain of handseals. "Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!"

Naruto's eyes widened. He knew that jutsu, and as a result, he knew that he needed to get the fuck out of there as fast as he could.

He jumped off of the tree and threw himself at the ground, just barely dodging the giant ball of fire as it whizzed over his head. He managed to turn his body enough to roll into a crouch and avoid the rain of kunai that landed where he'd been only a millisecond earlier.

"You're out of your league, brat."

The small, knowing smirk that appeared on Naruto's face instantly set the man on edge.

"Boom," the blond said, snapping his fingers.

The man barely had time to widen his eyes and pull the tag off before it exploded in his hand.

"...When...?" he managed to mumble through the mouthful of blood. The vest had absorbed some of the blast, but he was still missing half an arm.

"It's a good thing you managed to switch places with that log before you felt any real contact from my rasengan, huh?"

"You managed to do it that fast...?"

Naruto steeled his gaze. "Who do you work for?"

"Cute," the man said, smirking despite his pain.

Naruto waltzed over to the fallen shinobi. He picked up one of the man's kunai on the way, twirling it around by its ring. "I'm not really proud of everything I've learned these past few years. I haven't even told my best friend about some of my skills."

The man snorted. "I'm supposed to care here, right?" Despite saying that, he was really starting to become afraid. Maybe it was the blood loss, the boy's cold, calculating gaze, or the feeling of impending death, but something told him that he had roughly five minutes to make his peace with the gods.

"I couldn't tell her, you know?" He came to a stop in front of him and crouched down. "It'd hurt her too much. It hurts me to do this too, but I have to protect her. You can understand that, right?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

Naruto slammed the kunai into the man's leg, eliciting a surprisingly girly scream from his victim's throat. "Who do you work for? It's obvious you're from Konoha. I can see it in the way you move. Are you also from ROOT?"

"You think a stab in the leg is enough to make me talk?"

"No, I was just trying to be nice about it." He closed his eyes when he opened them again, they were red. "If I put even an ounce of my chakra into your body, you will feel a pain you didn't think possible as the Kyuubi's chakra systematically takes over and destroys yours. It's the most agonizing feeling on Earth according to the last person I did this too. Once I put some of this in your body, you'll have about five minutes before it's too late for me to take the chakra back. At five minutes, it'll make it to your heart and kill you. Well?"

He wanted to tell him––he really did. It wasn't even his sense of duty that was stopping him. No, it was the fact that this brat was acting like he was hot shit that made him so obstinate. "Suck my cock, demon."

"Have it your way." He gripped the kunai in the man's leg, and concentrating as hard as he could, directed a large amount of his chakra down the kunai and into the cut.

The man let loose the most painful scream he'd ever heard. After five seconds, he broke down. "I got it! I'll tell you!"

Naruto raised his eyebrow, nodding for him to continue.

"I work for Danzo. We weren't trying to kill you, honest! He just wanted us to evaluate your skills!"

"Really?"

"I swear on my life!"

A wry smile appeared on Naruto's face.

"What?"

"I'm sorry, I can't take out the chakra by myself. I'd need a medic-nin to stabilize your heart or else you'll die."

"You...you little prick," the man gasped out between pained breaths.

"Nothing personal, I just have to protect Tayuya-chan." He formed a few handseals, and shortly afterwards, his hands glowed a mild green.

"What are you doing?"

"Making your last few minutes a little easier."

He placed his hands on the man's forehead, and after barely a second, the man's eyes closed and his body relaxed as he fell into a coma.

Naruto closed his own eyes briefly to say a short prayer. He really hated taking a life, no matter who it was.

Giving the man one last, sad glance, he took off back to the trees.

"Naruto?" a voice called from behind him.

He spun around in midjump to see the redhead a dozen or so meters behind him, her bright red hair billowing out behind her as she tried to catch up. Very little could compare to the relief he felt at seeing that she was okay.

"Where're the other guys?" she asked, eyes scanning the forest.

"I killed one. You?"

"Same. Where's the third one?"

The blond shook his head. "I felt his presence during my fight, but it disappeared towards the end. Probably to report back to Danzo."

"More of Danzo's guys? Seriously? You think they'd have learned by now after we wipd them out last time." She paused for a short second, angrily remembering Juro's death. She suddenly snapped her head around to look at Naruto. "Do you think we could chase him down before he gets back to Konoha?"

The teens exchanged glances, and after a couple of seconds, two slow smiles appeared on their faces. Simultaneously they dropped their weights, and the indentations they made in the Earth made them both laugh.

Naruto stared over at her. "Ready?"

Rather than answer she took to the trees, the blond right on her heels.

"Monsters...both of them!" the man mumbled to himself, a sweat breaking out on his forehead. He regretted not sending a messenger bird off to Danzo, but he honestly hadn't expected things to go so badly so fast. He figured they'd show up, smack the kids around a bit, and then return to Konoha to receive a little praise from Danzo and the rest of ROOT for taking down the Kyuubi. The last team they'd sent had been weak, and it was sort of expected that they'd lose, but shit!

The brat had actually tortured him! The files they'd received were misleading. The fact that they were genin had caused them to massively underestimate the teens, and Naruto's character description had described him as dumb, easily confusable, naive, but extremely durable. He hadn't seen any of that tonight.

"That's not very nice," an amused voice said from his left, shocking him out of his thoughts. He glanced over to see the redhead casually jumping side by side with him. He tried to change directions, but as he looked to his right, he saw the Kyuubi smiling at him with a mischievous grin of his own.

"Yeah, it kind of hurts our feelings."

The last thing he heard was a strange, haunting melody, and the last thing he saw before he blacked out was a large rock heading directly towards him as he barreled to the ground.

–––

"Eighty five thousand, ninety five thousand, one hundred and five thousand yen!" Tayuya exclaimed, shuffling through the money. "Holy fuck, these guys were loaded!"

After killing the last shinobi, the redhead had come up with the bright idea of raiding the dead bodies for cash, weapons, and any other useful items. They'd also managed to locate the shinobi's supplies hidden in the hollow of a tree.

Besides money, their enemies had a large amount of weapons and rations on them, camoflage gear, and some camping supplies including a foldable fishing rod. There was also a small collapsible chess set, much to Tayuya's delight. She'd deny it if asked, but it was her favorite game.

"Naruto...we're fucking strong. We're definitely stronger than the average jounin now," she said, smiling at him.

The blond shrugged. "I guess. It just feels a little wrong taking all of their personal stuff, but it's not like they're gonna get much use out of it now. Right?"

"Duh. If they didn't want us to have it, they shouldn't have gotten themselves killed."

Naruto gave her a disapproving frown, but shrugged shortly afterwards. She actually kind of had a point. Geez, she was starting to rub off on him. "What was that jutsu you used on the last guy?"

"Oh, that? That was nothing. It's just a little tune to knock someone out."

"Why didn't it hit me? I heard it, too."

"Yeah, but the technique is nothing without chakra you know, and I didn't aim it at you."

"That makes sense, I guess." The blond yawned widely. Since they'd been woken up by the surprise attack, he was still tired. "I'm going back to sleep. What about you?"

"Yeah, I'll lie down in a little bit. Leave me some room."

Tayuya watched him go with a frown. He was surprisingly okay with the fact that they'd just killed three people. The Naruto she knew would have been much more upset, and would still be bitching about taking a life. There was something he wasn't telling her.

She pulled the picture from her pocket, frowning sadly at it. The shinobi Naruto had killed had a daughter, and she looked to be around four at the most. She'd been sure to hide it from Naruto lest he feel even more guilty, since hell, even _she_ felt bad. She knew what it was like to lose a father, and she idly wondered if the girl would grow up to beecome a kunoichi and try to take revenge on them.

She closed her eyes and made a small promise to herself before tossing the picture into the slowly dying fire. Right afterwards, she walked over to where Naruto was sleeping and slipped into the sleeping bag with him.

He felt her snuggle in behind him, making him feel a little more uncomfortable than he'd care to admit. It didn't help that for someone who'd just finished killing and looting three people, she smelled extremely nice. Kind of like strawberries. "Uh," Naruto started, feeling a little awkward having her so close.

"It's cold."

Her arms wrapped around his torso like he was a giant teddy bear. This was definitely new for her since she rarely initiated physical contact. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"You know how sometimes we have to kill people?" When she felt him nod, she continued. "Well, I mean, we're_ killing_ people. People like you and me. I've never thought about it much before now, but those people probably have friends. _Families_."

"I think about that all the time. It's why I try not to kill anyone if I can help it. But if it's between me killing them and them killing you, i won't hesitate. You're a part of my family, and they know the risks of being a shinobi just like we do."

"Are you saying that you'd kill for me?" she asked, amusement heavy in her voice. "Thanks, though. That helped."

"With what?"

When she didn't answer right away, he turned over until he was facing her, body almost flush against hers due to their proximity. Naruto felt his heart thump faster in his chest. He didn't know why, but he felt extremely nervous now that they were facing each other.

He looked at her face to see that her eyes were closed. His body gradually began to relax as he realized that she was fast asleep, and he smirked at the one habit she just couldn't seem to kick.

She was still a drooler.

–––––––––––

Naruto awoke to see Tayuya kneeling in front of the fire, preparing breakfast for the two of them.

He sat up and just watched her for a couple of minutes, studying the smooth and efficient way she moved. He could tell that there was still something bothering her, but she'd apparently worked something out with herself over the course of the night. As much as he wanted to pry, he knew that everyone had their secrets.

"Morning," she said, smiling at him from over the flames.

He loved it when she smiled. She always looked like a completely different person. "Morning. What's for breakfast?"

"Those guys we fucked up had some rice, so I'm just making something easy; fish, tamagoyaki, and rice."

"Cool, I love your tamagoyaki."

She'd first demonstrated her newly gained cooking prowess at one of Jiraiya's friends houses. She had insisted on cooking dinner for everyone, and with only Anko helping her, managed to pull off a surprisingly delicious meal. Granted, none of it really went together, but each individual item was pretty amazing.

"Everyone does. I'm like, a master or something."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "And you wonder why I don't give you compliments."

"Because you know i'll punch you in the face?"

"That too." She handed him some rice before making herself a bowl, joining him on the log in front of the fire.

At that moment, Anko and Jiraiya walked into the campsite, each of them carrying a large bag.

"Something smells good! What's for breakfa––hey, where'd you guys get the rice from? I thought we were out. You were holding out on us?!" She grabbed a helping of the food for herself, squeezing in on the log next to Tayuya.

"Actually..."

They spent the next ten m minutes explaining what happened, being careful not to leave anything out. It took a supreme amount of effort not to brag about how easy it was, but they somehow managed to pull it off.

Jiraiya sighed. "It's a good thing you were able to catch him or else Danzo probably would have sent more after you. It'll probably be a couple of weeks before they start to get suspicious, and if we're lucky, they haven't sent word that we're headed towards Suna yet. If we can stay off the radar until we get close to Konoha, that would be ideal."

"Still, I can't believe you two were able to take down three ROOT officers. You didn't show them everything you could do, did you?" Anko asked.

The redhead frowned. "Fuck, give us a little credit here. We're not completely stupid."

"But you _are_ stupid," Anko smirked.

Tayuya stuck out her tongue at the woman before shoveling another mouthful of rice in her mouth. She'd be upset, but she was far too proud of the job she and Naruto had done. Even if they'd caught one of them off guard, they'd relatively easily taken down at least chuunin level ninja using only their basic skills. She glanced up at him and grinned, widening her smile when he winked and returned it.

Noticing this, Anko raised her eyebrows. "Anything else happen?"

Tayuya shrugged. "Not really, why?" She suddenly leaned forward and reached towards Naruto's face, grabbing a piece of rice off of his face and eating it. "Why the fuck're you so messy?"

"Okay, now you're just being annoying."

"About what?"

"If you really don't know, then I don't either." Anko tossed her leftovers into the fire, standing up and stretching in the process. "Hurry up and pack. We're behind schedule."

Both teens shoveled their remaining food into their mouths and sprinted towards their gear, eager to get to Sunagakure as soon as possible.

For different reasons, of course.

**AN: Yikes, action scenes are tougher since I stopped watching Naruto. And...and anime in general. I also feel as though I should mention that I hate the Naruto series. Hate it. The nail in the coffin for me was Tobi's identity reveal. **

**I originally planned on changing the story as I learned what happened in canon, but I'm just going to stick the original plot outline. It's so much better than what's happening. This story was always AU, but expect some pretty massive departures.**

**If I'm still writing this in five years I'm going to cry.**


	33. Chapter 33

**The Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. **

**Chapter 33**

It was hot.

No, scratch that. It was boiling. Blistering. Scorching. Hell on fucking Earth.

"There's a town a few miles ahead," Jiraiya offered, noticing the sluggish way the other three shinobi were walking. They'd crossed the border two hours ago and were officially in the Wind country and on their way to Sunagakure.

Tayuya had only been to the Wind country a few times in her life, the most recent being before the attack on Konoha when she'd helped Orochimaru kill the Kazekage. Luckily, no one living except Orochimaru and Kabuto knew this, so she felt reasonably safe that her cover wouldn't be blown.

Still, she didn't remember it being this fucking hot. Her _sweat_ was sweating, and she was pretty sure that was impossible and defied the laws of the known universe.

A sudden, gentle breeze hit her from her left. She closed her eyes and smiled, enjoying the brief reprieve from the heat. When the wind didn't stop after a full minute, she finally looked over to see Naruto holding up his palm, a visible swirl of wind floating in it. "What's that?" she asked, moving closer so that she could get some more of the air.

"I figured you'd like it. I call it Super Breeze no jutsu!"

Tayuya frowned at the terrible name and looked over at him. "That reminds me. Since when did you come up with all of these wind techniques?"

"I mostly came up with them by just messing around. They're not that great since I can't really use them for anything useful."

"What the fuck're you talking about? This is the most useful jutsu I've ever seen. Make it stronger!"

Hearing this, Anko moved to Naruto's other side, looping her arm with his. "Hey, send some air this way! Just because she's your girlfriend doesn't mean you should only give her attention!"

Predictably, both teens noticeably stiffened. They wisely chose not to rise to her goad, and Naruto awkwardly cleared his throat. "Well, I can expand it." He pumped a little more chakra into the technique until it was more like a mini tornado. Both Anko and Tayuya sighed with pleasure, and even Jiraiya slowed down to bask in the breeze.

Eventually, they reached a small village. To Tayuya, it was like an oasis in the middle of the desert. There weren't that many people outside since it was practically the middle of the day, and she suspected that they were smart enough to do most of their outside duties early in the morning or late in the evening.

They reached the middle of the village and the redhead raised her eyebrows when they came upon a medium sized body of water surrounded by a high gate, presumably meant to keep people out of it. Well, shit. It actually was an oasis. There were three guards posted around it, each of them reclining comfortably in their guard booths. To the left of the oasis was a small hotel, and Jiraiya began to walk towards it.

"I'm going to get us a couple of rooms. You all can explore the town if you want."

The teens shrugged and walked towards the nearby shops to see what they could spend their newly earned/pillaged cash on, and Anko slipped off to hit up a dango stand they'd passed a couple of minutes ago.

Right across the street from the hotel was a weapon's shop, so they figured it was as good of a place as any to start. Sure, it was old and dilapitated, but _weapons. _

They waltzed into the building and took a quick look around. If it was possible, the inside looked even worse than the outside. Nothing was organized, and it looked like a small hurricane had just come and gone. The place could do with a really good dusting and sweeping, too.

A gasp caught their attention, and they saw a weathered old man who was obviously not used to new customers staring at them with surprise. "Welcome to Iwako Weapons Shop! Are you looking for anything in particular?"

"Just browsing, thanks," Tayuya piped, lightening her voice and ignoring Naruto's amused smirk.

The man noticeably deflated and went back to his book, instantly pegging them as bored, broke kids. Which they were. Bored, that is, because they weren't kids and they definitely weren't broke.

Most of the stuff in the shop wasn't that great if you were a shinobi. In fact, half of the items seemed geared towards weak, talentless civilians who needed them to overcompensate for either their lack of ability or lack of certain physical assets. There were crossbows, maces, spears, and of course swords, but things like kunai and shuriken were shoved into the back corner of the building. They definitely didn't get many ninja here.

"Hey, Tayuya-chan, check these out," he called, holding up a strange kunai. It looked like three kunai glued together into a T-shape, and judging by the layer of dust on it, it hadn't been touched in at least five years. As he held the metal weapon in his hand, he couldn't shake the strange familiarity he felt coming from it.

Tayuya walked over to where he was standing, grabbing the kunai from his hand and studying it herself. It didn't look all that special. In fact, it looked downright useless and unwieldly. Still, the way Naruto's eyes shone as he studied them made her a smirk. "Do you want these?" she asked, reaching for another one of the weapons. There were ten of them altogether, and they didn't look like they'd been used much at all.

Naruto glanced at the price and frowned. "No, they're kinda stupid, you know?"

A frown of Tayuya's own spread across her face as she saw him look at the price. It was obvious, even if you didn't know Naruto as well as she did, that he wanted them. It was also obvious that he felt bad about wanting to spend that much on them. That's why she decided to make the decision for him. "Too bad, you're getting them."

"Tayuya–" His words fell on deaf ears as she sped towards the counter, all ten of the kunai hanging from her fingers. He sighed loudly and followed at a much slower pace.

"Ne, ne, Oji-san! What's the story on these knife-thingys?" she asked, voice sounding disturbingly similar to a child's.

The blond held back a laugh. He knew this act. She'd used it on Uncle...Kami, what was his name? Chin? For the life of him he couldn't remember what that sweaty old banker they'd met over two years ago had wanted them to call him. The point was, Tayuya was about to rip this guy off and he wouldn't suspect a thing until they were long gone.

The shopkeeper smiled and shook his head, amused by her naivety. "These knives are called kunai, and they arrived here right after the war. I don't think they're meant for a young lady like yourself, but do you want to buy one as a souvenir?"

"Actually, I want to buy all of them! They look like cute little T's!"

Even though Naruto found her act both cute and funny, he still didn't want to spend that much on weapons they might not even use. "Tayuya-chan, we can't afford to buy all of those!"

She motioned for him to follow her outside after shooting the store owner a nervous grin. Once they were outside, Tayuya pulled out a fat wad of cash, waving it front of Naruto's eyes. "Remember this? We can afford those easily."

"But, Tayuya-chan..."

"Shut up, they're yours." Counting the money, she pulled out half of the shop owner's asking price, ignoring Naruto's incredulous stare.

"What're you doing? That's not nearly enough."

Not giving him a chance to respond, she grabbed his arm and led him back inside. "We don't have that much on us. Can't you the lower the price a little bit?" she asked, giving the owner a look Naruto had never seen before. Her long, red hair was pulled back, exposing the smooth, lightly tanned skin of her neck.

"Well...I guess I can lower it to 20,000 for all of them."

Tayuya pouted cutely. "That's still too much! These knife thingys are awfully dusty. How long have they been here? They're just taking up space you could use for better weapons instead of these stupid...'koo-nay'?" When the man furrowed his brows in thought, she really turned on the charm. "Pleeeeeaaaase?" she begged, clasping her hands. She fought down the urge to throw up all over his face. She had to constantly remind herself that this was for Naruto lest she hang herself.

The man rubbed his head and sighed. "Alright, you've broken me down. How does 10,000 sound?"

"Thank you so much!" The redhead frowned and pretended to count the bills in her hand, making a show of doing it as slowly and deliberately as possible. Naruto noticed her pull a sleight of hand and remove a few more bills from her hand, discreetly slipping them into the waistband of her shorts. "I'm 2,000 yen short," she sighed, dejectedly lowering her shoulders.

Standing to her right, Naruto stood with his mouth agape. The guy had given her over a 75% discount and she was still trying to rip him off?! Yup, she had no soul.

"That's fine! You're close enough, and like you said, these have been here for years since they aren't really effective weapons. I think I've only sold one since they've been here."

Making a show of acting excited, she jumped up and down and threw the bills on the countertop, grabbing the kunai in both hands.

"Thanks, Oji-san! Bye!" she yelled to the clerk, quickly leading Naruto out of the store and down the street.

As the teens left the store, the man couldn't help but feel as though he'd been robbed.

Once they were back in front of the hotel and well out of view of the weapons shop, she held out the kunai to him with a smile. "Happy early birthday!"

Naruto couldn't help it; he grinned. The way her eyes shone with pride made him too happy for words, and he couldn't resist gathering her up in his arms and hugging her. To his surprise, she almost immediately returned it, wrapping her arms around his back. His smile widening into a mischievous one, he picked her up and spun her around, eliciting a loud squeal from her throat.

Tayuya pulled back and stared at him in horror, unable to believe the sound that had come out of her mouth. "That–that never happened."

"What never happened?" he smirked.

She punched his shoulder, but smiled gratefully. "Good answer. Come on, I need ice cream and a cold shower." With that, she led him up the stairs and into the hotel.

–––

Spinning the kunai around on his finger, Naruto narrowed his eyes. It was weird. Somehow, the weapon felt...familiar. Like it belonged to him. Like it was a_ part _of him. The clerk was right about it not being a very effective weapon, but after tossing it around a bit, he'd learned that it flew about twice as far as a regular kunai so that was something. With a little practice, he could even say that it was more accurate.

"Where did you get that?" Jiraiya asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. His face showed surprise, a rare thing for him.

Naruto turned over onto his stomach and curiously held up the knife. "This? Tayuya-chan bought it for me at one of the weapons shops in town." He noticed that the sannin looked like he'd seen a ghost, which was worrying.

"Do you know what that is?"

"A kunai? The guy said he got them after the war, so they're pretty old. Why?"

Jiraiya walked over and picked up another one of the kunai, turning it over in his hands. "This is the tool that the Fourth Hokage used for his famous techinque, the Hiraishin no jutsu."

That got Naruto's attention. He instantly sat up on the bed, practically vibrating with excitement. "Really?!"

Jiraiya nodded his head, a nostalgic smile appearing on his face. "I could never fully figure it out, but he somehow managed to warp space and time itself to teleport from place to place. He'd place a special tag on each one of these things and send them flying into the battlefield. That's why it's shaped so strangely––to get the maximum amount of distance." He paused for a second, studying Naruto with a small smirk. "If you'd like, I can show you a few of Minato's old notes. It can be something for you to figure out on the side while you're training."

"Really?!" he exclaimed again, only vaguely realizing that he sounded like a broken record.

The old man shrugged. "Sure, it's not like I'd get much use out of them. If you can manage to figure it out, though, I'd be amazed. Minato was near genius."

"Thanks, Ero-sennin!"

The man grinned. "Don't ever say I've never done anything to help you."

Naruto briefly considered hugging him, but decided that'd be way, way too weird.

"What're you guys doing?" Tayuya asked, pillow tucked under her arm as she walked into the room. Her long red hair was in a ponytail, and she wore his old favorite black shirt and his old pair of orange shorts that he swore got shorter everytime he saw them.

Against his will, Naruto's eyes instantly cut to her legs. Luckily, she didn't seem to notice his glance.

Jiraiya noticed, though, as he caught Naruto's eye and smirked knowingly. He considered messing with him, but the call of the local brothel was far too strong for him to resist. "I have some things to pick up in town. I'll be back sometime after midnight." With that, he walked past Tayuya and out of the door.

When he was gone, the redhead cocked her hip and raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. Ero-sennin said he'd give me some of the Fourth Hokage's notes!"

"No shit?" She dove onto the bed next to him and rolled onto her back, knees pointed straight up in the air. "What's on 'em?"

"Stuff about the Flying Thundergod Technique apparently."

Her eyes widened. She'd heard Orochimaru bitch about that technique dozens of times over the years. "Whoa."

"Yup. These kunai you bought me are part of it."

"And to think you tried to turn them down," she teased, poking him in his side with her bare foot.

"Lucky for me you don't take no for an answer."

She flashed him a grin. "Never have, never will."

"By the way, you've gotten a lot better at that haggling thing. You were really, uh..."

"Vapid? Flirty? Yeah, I learned it from Anko as espionage training or whatever. It makes me sick most of the time, but I can't deny that it gets results." She grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him down onto the bed so that he was lying down next to her. "More importantly, If you had to choose a flavor of ice cream, what would it be?"

He didn't really see how that was more important than what they were talking about, so he looked at her funnily. "What? Why?"

"Just answer it."

He eyed her suspiciously for a few more seconds before answering. "I guess vanilla. With rainbow sprinkles!"

"Rainbow sprinkles? Really?" Tayuya asked, raising her eyebrows and smirking slightly.

Naruto sniffed indignantly. "Sprinkles make everything more fun."

"That's really gay, but I'll let it slide since it's almost your birthday. Speaking of which, what do you wanna do for your birthday? We'll be in Suna by then."

The blond shrugged again and yawned widely, grabbing the comforter and pulling it over himself. "I wanna sleep."

Tayuya frowned. She wasn't all that tired and was looking forward to staying up with him a bit longerr, but she couldn't exactly say that. Especially not since he already seemed to be two steps away from Dreamland. "Loser." She moved to get up, but Naruto grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"You can stay here if you want."

She stared into his sleepy blue eyes, searching them for answers. It was the first time he'd ever expressed a real desire for her to sleep with him. Up until now, she either made him or it just sort of...happened. She slowly eased herself back down and slid under the covers with him. They'd done it before, but this time it felt much weirder than usual.

"Night, Tayuya-chan," he mumbled, voice drifting more with each syllable.

"Yeah...night." She felt uncomfortable at first, but it didn't take her long to relax and squeeze herself closer to him. Their arms just barely touched, but that was all the contact she needed to fall asleep.

––––––––––

They spent another eight hours the next day walking in the heat, but between their new umbrellas and Naruto's wind technique, the trip was much more bearable than it had been the day before.

"I see it!" Naruto yelled, pointing at something off in the distance.

Tayuya rolled her eyes. "Are you sure it's not just another mirage like the last fifty times you saw something?"

"I'm sure this time! It's not wavering at all!"

She sighed and didn't bother to look, certain that he was wrong for the fifty-first time.

They walked for another ten or so minutes, and now even she couldn't miss the large structures they were rapidly closing in on.

"Well, shit. You were right for once."

Naruto stuck his tongue out at her. "Told ya."

With a clear goal in sight, they sped up their pace until they were nearly jogging, eager to get out of the sun and hopefully wash the sand out of the places it didn't belong in. It only took them five more minutes to reach the narrow pathway that led into the village, and it was being guarded by two extremely bored looking Suna-nin.

"State your business," one of the guards said, looking like he wanted nothing more than to take a long dip in the pool. Which made sense since it was every bit of a hundred degrees outside.

Jiraiya stepped forward and held up a scroll. "We're here to deliver a parchment from Waterfall to the Kazekage. Reference number 00AE3T-6."

Naruto and Tayuya exchanged a curious glance, neither of them sure what was going on. This was the first they'd heard about any package.

The guard flipped through the papers on his clipboard before nodding. "Kazekage-sama's expecting you. Just walk straight until you get to a large, circular building with the kanji for 'wind' on it. Can't miss it."

"Thank you," Jiraiya replied, bowing slightly.

They walked through the long, dark tunnel. It was the perfect place to ambush people, and if Gaara was around, he could just shove the walls together and crush them easily. That was assuming they were expecting an attack, though.

"Whoa," Naruto breathed, staring at the village once they got out. "It's huge!"

Tayuya boredly glanced away. "Eh, it looked bigger the first time."

"You've been here before?"

Shit. Doing her best to shrug nonchalantly, she uncomfortably kept her gaze away from Naruto's face. "A few times. Hey, look at that place."

Naruto followed her finger, cocking his head at where it led him. "What about it? It's just a flower shop."

"Yeah, but it looked neat." When he raised a skeptical eyebrow, she crossed her arms and sniffed. "Fuck off."

They walked through the town, Naruto looking around like a kid in a candy store and the other three watching him look around like a kid in a candy store. Eventually, they reached the center of the village.

"Here we are," Jiraiya announced loudly, drawing Naruto's attention from one of the many food stalls in the area.

"Name and business?" The guard asked, stepping in front of them as they approached.

"We're to give a package to the Kazekage. Reference number 00AE3T-6," Jiraiya said, already tired of having to do this. It was slightly annoying not being recognized as one of the legendary Sannin, but that was to be expected since they'd only been talking to guys who were in their late teens and were from a completely different village.

The guard raised his eyebrows and checked his list. "Why do you need four people to deliver one package?"

"It's an extremely sensitive item, and they're here to help guard it."

He stared at them for another few seconds before shrugging. "The Kazekage is waiting for you."

They quickly filed into the building, glad to be out of the heat. They walked up the long staircase and were instantly ushered into the Kazekage's office––only to see Gaara sitting in the large, high-backed chair. "It is good to see you again, Naruto."

Naruto gaped. His mouth opened and closed multiple times as he struggled to find something to say. "G...Gaara?! You're the––when––what?!"

"It's been almost six months now, but you probably haven't heard about it because you've been traveling for so long. Since the Kazekage was my father and I'm the strongest shinobi in the village, they decided to promote me into his position," Gaara said, the tiniest of smirks on his face despite his deadpan voice.

"Wait, Gaara is the last Kazekage's son?" Tayuya asked, looking between Naruto and Gaara with surprise and a little bit of sheepishness. "Well, this is awkward." she mumbled to herself. It'd probably be a bad idea to mention how she'd helped killed his father. Yup, that's definitely a secret she'd be taking to her grave.

"Here is the information you requested. About the Akatsuki," Jiraiya said, handing over the package.

Tayuya glanced over at Jiraiya and then at Naruto. Annoyingly, the blond didn't look the least bit surprised about what was going on. Apparently he already knew about what was on that scroll, and it made her a little angry that he hadn't bothered to share it with her.

Gaara opened it and quickly glanced over the information before looking back up at them and rolling it up again. His face darkened, obviously displeased with what he'd read. "I'm sure you're all tired. I'll have someone show you to my home and we can talk more about this tomorrow after you've all settled in."

Jiraiya shook his head. "Thank you, but that won't be neccessary."

"It's no problem, you're all staying with me for the duration of your visit."

"We couldn't impose. I've already arranged a place for us to live."

Gaara leveled his gaze on the man. "I insist."

The room went silent for a few awkward seconds. "Well," Jiraiya started slowly, "If you don't think it'll be too much trouble."

A ghost of a smile appeared on Gaara's face. " Great." He pushed a button on his intercom and leaned forward to speak into it. "Temari, I need you to escort some guests to our home. Immediately, please."

"Of course, Kazekage-sama," a female voice answered back.

Barely ten seconds later, Temari strode into the room. Her hair was tied up in it's usual four ponytails, but she now wore a simple black yukata. A red sash was tied around her waist, and a pair of fingerless black gloves covered her hands.

"Kazekage-sama, I––Naruto?! Is that you?!" To all of their surprise, she wrapped him up in tight hug. She pulled away after a few seconds and roughly rubbed his long blond hair. "You actually grew, huh? You're even taller than me! Good to see you again!" Her eyes shifted from Naruto to the redhead standing at his side.

Temari stared at Tayuya with confusion, but after a few seconds, it morphed into shock. "You...!"

"Hey, bitch," Tayuya frowned, narrowing her eyes.

Getting a grip on herself, the blonde schooled her face into a mask of indifference. "Oh, you lived, huh? And you're with Konoha now? Good to see you're a loyal little lapdog."

Tayuya bit back a snarl, instead opting to paste on a neutral smile. "What can I say? I didn't want to waste my talents on a guy that was going nowhere. But you wouldn't know anything about having talent, would you?"

Naruto chose that moment to yawn exaggeratedly, stretching his arms high above his head. "Boy, I sure am tired. When can we go to your house?"

"Temari," Gaara said, staring at her.

Temari frowned, but motioned for them to follow her. She led them down the stairs and out of the back door into a narrow alley, and they walked for a good five minutes before they reached a huge house, two times as big as the Kazekage Tower. There had to be at least ten rooms in the thing, probably more if he had to guess.

There was a guard posted at the door, and she walked up to him like they were old friends. "They'll be staying with us for the next..." She paused to look back at them, realizing they'd never told her. "How long are you staying?"

"Two months," Jiraiya replied.

Temari smiled, obviously happy with this arrangement. "Two months. They have unlimited access, but keep an eye on the red one. It might be rabid."

Naruto jabbed Tayuya in the side before she could open her mouth and shook his head. She pouted and glanced away from him, sniffing angrily to herself. She'd had a good comeback for that one, too.

They were led into a huge foyer, and there were two staircases leading to the next floor. It was easily the biggest house Naruto had ever been in. The large windows let in scads of bright light making the room seem even larger, and a gargantuan chandelier hung from the vaulted ceiling. Except for a few expensive looking pots and wall scrolls the place was sparsely decorated, but the amount of decoration seemed to suit the open feel of the mansion.

"Kankurou! Get down here!" Temari yelled, hands on her hips.

The jounin appeared at the top of the staircase, a screw driver and one of his many puppets in his arms. "What the hell do you want now, Temari? I told you, I'm––is that Naruto?!" Tossing the puppet aside, he easily hopped down from the second story and walked over to the group. He immediately wrapped him up in a huge bear hug, lifting him off of the ground. "Man, you've gotten big! Still not as tall as me, though," he said, breaking the hug and looping an arm around the blond's shoulders.

"Not as fat either..." Naruto mumbled under his breath.

"What?"

"I said probably not as fast either."

Kankurou shrugged. "Don't sweat it man, recognizing your shortcomings is the first step to getting better." His arm still around the boy's shoulders, he looked over at Tayuya. "Whoa, who's the babe?" he asked, not even trying to mask his leering. He missed the glare that Naruto was sending his way, too preoccupied with staring at Tayuya's chest.

Temari choked out a laugh. "I wouldn't mess with her, Kankurou. There's no telling what kind of diseases she has."

"At least I know I don't have bitchitis." Tayuya winced on the inside. It definitely wasn't one of her better insults.

"Says the guttermouthed whore."

"I bet you'd know a whole fucking lot about being a whore, wouldn't you?"

Kankurou shook his head, tuning the two of them out. "Girls, right? They just met each other and they're already going at it," he drawled, rolling his eyes and hiking his thumb at the arguing teenagers. "C'mon, I'll give you the grand tour. You're gonna love this place!" The young men walked up the stairs, both chatting animatedly about weapons and jutsus.

It wasn't until five minutes later that Tayuya stopped arguing long enough to look around the room.

"Hey, where'd Naruto go?"

**AN: In regards to what I said last chapter, I shouldn't have said that I hate the Naruto series. I should've said that I hate everything starting from the war arc. Just so much bullshit, you know? Kishi's using way too many terrible plot devices and it's driving me up the wall. He's ruining what used to be a great story. **

**Also, check out my bro Amrun's story, Playing the Game. Completely different tone from this–it's way dark and fucked up–so if you like that kind of thing, go read it.**


	34. Chapter 34

**The Melody of the Fox **

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 34**

"Itadakimasu!" Naruto yelled, picking up his chopsticks and raising them over the buffet sitting in front of them. He was currently sitting at a huge table––a table large enough to seat at least twenty people––for a family dinner with Gaara and his siblings. Of course, there were only seven of them total, so they didn't even take up half of it.

There was so much food that he didn't know where to start, and since he didn't recognize a lot of the stuff on the table, he just grabbed the closest thing to him. It was some sort of meat on a stick, but it looked delicous. He raised it to his mouth and took a large bite.

"This is awesome!" He moved the stick towards Tayuya. "Taste this!"

She leaned forward and pulled a piece off with her teeth, chewing it thoughtfully. Her face lit up a second later. "Holy shit, that is good!" She then held up a piece of some strange looking bread. "What does this taste like to you?"

He leaned over and took it into his mouth, chewing slowly. "It's kind of nutty. I bet it goes great with this meat!" He took a bite of the meat and bread together. "Yup! So much better!"

"I hope you don't catch anything from eating after her," Temari mumbled from across the table, masking her mouth with a cup of tea.

Tayuya snapped her head up to look at her and scowled. "I hope he doesn't go blind from looking at your face."

"Taya-chan, stop," Anko sighed, rubbing her forehead from Tayuya's right. She had a right to be upset. Tayuya and Temari had been bickering ever since they'd arrived, getting louder and louder with each insult that was exchanged. It seemed like they'd cooled down once Gaara showed up to share a welcome dinner with them, but here they were fighting again.

Tayuya openly gaped at the woman. "Are you kidding me? She started it!"

This time, Jiraiya spoke up from the other side of Anko. "Tayuya, Anko's right. That's enough."

The redhead angrily threw her chopsticks down on the plate and crossed her arms, sitting back in her chair. It wasn't fair. Just because they were guests she was expected to get on her hands and knees and take that bitch's abuse?

Sensing her ire, Gaara jumped into the conversation. "Temari, stop fighting with Tayuya. They're our guests, and you know better."

Temari rolled her eyes and went back to eating, barely acknowledging that she'd even heard him. No one wanted to be reprimanded by their younger brother, but he was still the Kazekage and could easily kill her or kick her out of Suna if he wanted to. He wouldn't, most likely, but that didn't make her feel much safer.

The table grew uncomfortably silent after that, with no one willing to look at one anyone else. The only sounds were the clatter of silverware against plates and the obnoxiously loud chewing of Kankurou as he fought to stuff far too much food down his gullet.

"Hey, Tayuya-chan," Naruto whispered. When she turned her head to look at him, he held up a mouthful of noodles with his chopsticks. "Here comes the choo-choo train! Choo-choo!"

She raised her eyebrows at him for a couple of seconds before laughing loudly at his ridiculousness. She eventually opened her mouth, though, and allowed him to feed her. It was strange how he always knew the exact thing to do to make her happy again.

They fed each other back and forth a bit, drawing amused stares––and one glare––from everyone else at the table the entire time. It helped to break the ice between the two villages, and soon everyone was talking.

Eventually Naruto sighed and pushed his plate away. He and Tayuya had probably put away half of the food by themselves, getting second and third helpings of everything. It was easily one of the best meals they'd had in months, though since they'd been camping out for the majority of that time, it wasn't that much of an accomplishment.

"Well, I'm stuffed," he murmured, leaning back in his chair. He lazily turned to look at the boy on his left. "Hey, Gaara, can I talk to you for a sec?"

The Kazekage nodded and stood up, drawing the curious stares of everyone else at the table. He followed Naruto to the study down the hall, closing the door behind him.

"Is this room secure?" the blond asked, instinctively checking for any bugs or seals.

The redhead furrowed his nonexistent eyebrows slightly, finding the sudden change in his friend's demeanor worrisome. "What is this about?"

Naruto took a deep breath, letting it out slowly through pursed lips. "I know you've finished reading the scroll Jiraiya gave you by now."

"Yes."

"I don't know how to ask you this." He paused to gather his thoughts, raising his eyes to meet Gaara's. "How would you feel about stepping down as the Kazekage? Temporarily, of course."

The younger boy blinked. "I'd need a very good reason."

"I don't want to say too much since it's still in its early stages, but I might need your help. I _will_ need your help."

Gaara blinked again. Naruto had never been this serious before, and it was actually a bit alarming. Still, he wasn't making any sense. "I'll need more details than that."

"Of course." He reached into his pocket, pulled out a small document, and handed it to him.

Gaara took a few minutes to read over the scroll, eyes widening by just the smallest amount. "Wow."

The blond nodded, grinning wryly. "That's the reaction I always get. I'm asking you now so that you can think about it while things are still calm, but time's almost up, Gaara. Whatever the Akatsuki is up to can't be good, and whether you join me or not, I'm doing this."

Gaara lifted his eyes from the parchment to stare at Naruto, shaking his head. "It's an ambitious idea. Crazy, but ambitious."

"It's what I do best!" Naruto exclaimed, reverting back to his usual self.

"Have you told Tayuya about this? Jiraiya?" he asked, rolling the scroll up again and handing it back to him.

Naruto's grin faltered. "Jiraiya's sort of helping me out with it, but I'm not sure if he fully knows what I'm planning. As for Tayuya...not yet. I'm not even sure I want her to know."

"I may have just met her a few hours ago, but I know she's going to be angry with you when she finds out you've been keeping this from her."

"I don't care if she gets mad. I just care that she stays alive." His eyes hardened as he spoke, surprising the Kazekage a bit with the intensity of his gaze.

Gaara opened his mouth to say something, but he just shook his head instead. "I'll talk it over with a few of my most trusted advisors and give you an answer before you leave. It's a good idea if you can get it off of the ground."

"Thanks, Gaara, that's all I can ask for." Smiling widely, he opened the door and led him back to the dinner table.

* * *

"Fuck, I'm dying out here! Why don't you wave your pretty little fan around and give us some cool air?" Tayuya snapped, fanning herself with her hands. They were currently relaxing under the shade of a makeshift tent after a couple hours of training. They hadn't done much–just some basic calisthenics and light jogging–but combined with the hot morning sun beating down on them from above, it felt like they'd been at it all day.

Temari laughed condescendingly, the only one of the three of them not sweating at all. "Awww, the itty witty baby can't take a wittle heat? It's just a bit of sunshine. Get over yourself."

"Yeah, Let's see how cocky you are when you get skin cancer. Though looking at how ugly you are, you might have it on your face already," Tayuya mumbled.

A sharp nudge in her side grabbed her attention, and she turned her head to see Naruto looking at her with disapproval. "Tayuya-chan, stop it. You've been going at it for the past two days. Isn't that enough?"

Rather than answer him, she angrily flipped him off and looked away. She could feel his eyes boring into the side of her head, but she refused to meet his gaze. Why should _she_ have to stop? Why was everyone blaming her? She didn't ask Temari to drop a fucking tree on her. Yeah, she knew the bitch was just doing her job, but she could at least pretend that she hadn't enjoyed doing it so much. Even an apology would help get rid of some of the anger.

After a few seconds of waiting for her to say something, Naruto got up and walked away without so much as a glance in her direction. He wasn't upset with her, but he was definitely annoyed. He couldn't understand why she wouldn't just let it go. Why _neither_ of them would let it go.

"Do you see what you fucking did?" Tayuya seethed, watching him leave. She'd started to get up and follow him, but her pride wouldn't let her.

Temari shrugged. "It's not my fault he's sick of you. I'm surprised he put up with you this long."

At that moment, Tayuya launched herself at Temari, sending them both sprawling to the ground. They wrestled viciously for a few seconds and found themselves relatively evenly matched. Tayuya was normally stronger, sure, but the heat had sapped most her energy. Temari tried to grab for her fan, but Tayuya kicked it away, sending it skidding fifteen feet in front of them. She then jumped on her back and punched her in the jaw from behind, only to be elbowed in the chin by the blonde. It hurt like shit, but she'd be damned if she didn't kick her ass.

"You fucking bitch," Tayuya spat, grabbing a handful of hair. "You need to shut your mouth about shit you don't understand!"

Temari winced at the pain in her scalp. She grabbed her own hair so that Tayuya couldn't pull it anymore and flipped them both over, throwing the redhead into the ground with herself on top. She elbowed her a few times in the stomach until she felt her hair get released and then hopped to her feet. She kicked Tayuya in the side, eliciting a sharp gasp from her, and then sat down on her stomach. She wrapped her hands around her neck and began to squeeze.

"Do you know you're fighting the Kazekage's sister? I could kill you right now and no one would say anything."

Tayuya lifted her arms and also gripped Temari's neck, trying to force her to pass out before she did. Luckily her grip was much stronger, so when she began to squeeze, Temari's grip instantly lessened as her own airflow was cut off.

Half a minute later, both blacked out at nearly the same time.

It was a full fifteen minutes before Tayuya came to. Her head hurt, and her neck would probably be raw for at least another day, but at least she wasn't dead. Her eyes landed on Temari and she grimaced. Hopefully she wasn't dead either, since it'd be pretty hard to explain how she killed the Kazekage's sister. Naruto's best friend or not, there was no way Gaara would let her off. It might even start a war with Konoha, or at the very least, put a huge dent in their already shaky alliance. She slapped the blonde in the face a few times, grudgingly relieved when she came to.

Temari groaned and rubbed at her neck, angrily sitting up to glare at Tayuya. Neither girl really knew what to say, and neither was all that interested in talking to the other. Still, Temari felt an overwhelming curiosity begin to overtake her, so she decided to put aside her anger and break the silence. "What's with you two?"

"What do you mean?" Tayuya mumbled, instantly knowing what she was talking about. She didn't want to talk to the bitch, but at the same time, she was curious to hear what she had to say. Anko constantly said things about their relationship, but she was Anko. It was practically her _job_ to tease them.

"Don't act as stupid as you look. I mean that weird love-hate thing you and Naruto do."

Her attention successfully grabbed, she threw her hands up in the air, exasperated. "Fuck, am I the only one who can't see this magical connection that we apparently we have?"

Temari lifted an eyebrow. "I didn't say anything about a connection. I'm just wondering why the hell Naruto's giving a brutish girl like you the time of day. You're way uglier than Sakura, and definitely stupider."

The redhead winced. That hit a sore spot. "What the hell's your problem with me? Huh? I'm the only one with the grudge here since you almost killed me!" she snapped, standing to her feet.

The blonde was quiet for a few seconds, staring at the ground to her left. Eventually she turned her gaze on Tayuya, eyes dark and steady. "You know what it's like living with a psychopath?"

Tayuya shot her a deadpan glare, knowing full well that Temari knew about her history with the Sound. "Um."

"Of course you do. You're afraid of dying every waking moment. You live every day like it's your last because it very well could be. It's why you don't bother to form any lasting relationships. But do you know what it's like when that psychopath is your little brother and one of the few people you'd give your life to protect?"

For the first time since they'd met, Tayuya felt like she understood her. At least a little bit. They were more similar than she thought, which made it a little bit harder to hate her. Still, something didn't make sense. "What does that have to do with me and Naruto?"

"Well, Naruto saved Gaara from that. He's not exactly Mr. Personality, but he's a real human being who feels emotions other than anger now. As far as I'm concerned Naruto is family, and when it comes to my family, I protect them to the best of my ability. Look––I don't trust you. I think you're a selfish, angry, self-serving bitch. I don't know what you're playing at, but I know you're up to something and I want you to leave Naruto out of it."

"You don't know shit about me." When Temari raised her eyebrows, Tayuya sighed. She couldn't believe she was going to say this. "Naruto saved me from that too. I wasn't a complete psycho like Gaara, but I killed people without a second thought. I hated everyone. I couldn't imagine even _liking_ another person. Life before I met him was just...I don't know, I just survived and did what I was told."

"And now?" Temari pushed.

Tayuya shrugged. "I dunno, I live. I actually look forward to waking up every morning and seeing what kind of shit life's going to throw at me next."

"Congratulations, that's the cheesiest thing I've heard all year."

"Fuck you."

"Not on your life."

The girls broke down into laughter, for the first time feeling something other than hatred towards each other. It was strange how having only one thing in common could form the beginnings of a friendship. Well, maybe it wasn't exactly _friendship_, but at least they didn't have murder on the brain anymore.

Temari stopped laughing first, shooting the redhead a glare. "Oh, by the way, I do have a reason to hold a grudge. You almost killed my boyfriend."

Tayuya tilted her head, trying to remember the last person she'd almost killed. Usually, if she wanted someone dead, they were dead. There was never an 'almost' once she decided to end someone. After a few seconds, a sudden look of understanding came across her face. "Wait, you and pineapple head––"

"Tell anyone and I'll bury you under another forest."

"I'd like to see you try." She pursed her lips in thought, one question burning at the forefront of her mind. "So, have you fucked him yet?"

* * *

A dark-haired teen strode confidently through the dim halls of the compound, eyes focused straight ahead. He ignored the nods and waves of the lower-ranked members and only bothered to return the nods to his true brothers and sisters––the ones who'd grown up with him and knew what he'd been through. The ones who actually deserved his respect.

He'd never understood why his leader insisted on letting outsiders into the organization. They weren't bred for perfection. They thought it was okay to fail and try again the next time, and worst of all, they didn't put the mission first. Most of them didn't have the constitution to fully lay their lives down for the greater good, and as such, they constantly made mistakes. It was baffling.

He reached the large double doors that led to his leader's chambers and knocked three times in quick succession. Two loud, slow thumps returned, and using a bit of chakra, he hefted the heavy doors aside and stepped into the room.

"Danzou-sama," the boy said, kneeling in the center of the room.

Danzou grunted and lowered his head to look at his subordinate from behind his desk. "Have you heard from the squad we sent after the Kyuubi?"

The boy hesitated. "No, Danzou-sama. I believe that they are deceased."

Danzou nodded slightly. He'd expected as much. "Was there a message sent?"

"No, Danzou-sama."

The man sneered. That he hadn't expected. They were given specific orders to send a message if they so much as caught a glimpse the Kyuubi, but apparently, shinobi not trained from the ground up by ROOT found it impossible to follow even the most basic of orders. "Incompetence."

"Shall I send another team? Some of _ours _this time?"

"There's no point. The Kyuubi will be returning soon if Tsunade's timetable is to be believed, so it's more prudent that we move onto the next phase."

The boy raised his head, but his face remained blank. "I will start preparing immediately. My codename?"

Danzou paused for only a second. "Sai."

"As you wish, Danzou-sama." He stood up and walked out of the room, the doors closing behind him automatically. He'd be lying if he said that he didn't feel even a little bit of excitement about this assignment. Finally, he'd get to try out this whole 'blending into society' thing he heard the others talk about. Danzou usually kept him around as his right hand man, but now, he'd be out in the real world amongst real people––not just studying them in secret. He picked up his pace by an almost unnoticeable amount, eager to get started on the books he'd borrowed on human interaction.

The smallest of grins appeared on Danzou's face when the boy––now Sai––left. So far, he'd just been watching and testing the Kyuubi's skills from afar, using what little info he could gather to piece together a general idea of where Naruto would fit into his organization. It was frustrating that he didn't have an actual report on what had happened, though, since it was possible that Jiraiya had killed them all himself; he certainly had enough skill to.

The men he'd sent were jounin this time, much stronger than the chuunin he'd sent before. If the nine tails had managed to kill even one of them by himself at such a young age, he'd be an amazing asset to ROOT. He couldn't wait until Naruto got back to the village so that he could really get a look at where he was skill wise.

His good eye rolled over the other file sitting on the desk in front of him. Satou Tayuya. Even after three years, all he knew about her was her appearance, a few of her most basic skills, and her name. Jiraiya had done a frustratingly good job of keeping them all hidden, but he hadn't expected any less from one of the legendary sannin.

They'd only managed to catch a glimpse of them because one of the people in his network saw a blond male and female redhead going into a hotel near the border of the Lighting country––which didn't mean all that much since the Lightning country was well known for it's blonds. Still, he'd decided to take a chance and send some men out anyway.

Even if he hadn't gotten as much information as he'd expected, he wasn't worried. Not at all. Things were progressing fairly well as they were now, and once phase 2 began, he'd easily be able to bring Naruto into ROOT. Everything hinged upon Sai and Tayuya now.

"You know who made this puppet?" Kankurou asked, holding up his favorite puppet, Karasu.

Naruto shrugged disinterestedly. "I dunno, you?"

"I _wish_ I could make something this badass. Nah, it was by a guy named Sasori, the best puppet user to ever exist. As far as I know, anyway. Apparently, Sasori is still alive and is a member of the Akatsuki, and since he's a puppet user, Jiraiya-sama thought it'd be a good idea for you to understand the basics of fighting one of us just in case."

"Makes sense," Naruto shrugged again, brushing his bangs out of his eyes. He wore a white tanktop and a pair of dark pants that Gaara had given him. Suna clothing was much lighter and cooler than his own, and since their family was royalty, the Kazekage had an abundance of clothing that he hadn't even seen before. Even though Naruto had protested, Gaara insisted on giving nearly a quarter of his closet to the blond. Clothes he could keep for good.

"Okay, lesson one: Puppet users are usually never where they seem to be," Kankurou announced, drawing Naruto's attention again.

Naruto cocked his head. "What do you mean?"

"Even though it's easy to forget, we're first and foremost long distance fighters. We pretty much never fight head to head unless we absolutely _have_ to."

"So I should just ignore the puppet and look for the user?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Nah, that's the worst thing you can do. You need to fight the puppet _while_ looking for the user. Since you have the kage bunshin in your arsenal, this isn't really an issue for you. You can send out five or so clones to scour the area while you fight. The easiest way to do this is to look for the chakra strings connected to the puppet and follow them back to their hiding place. Let's try it out."

Naruto got into a basic taijutsu stance, watching Kankurou closely. As long as he kept his eyes on the jounin, there was no way he'd be able to pull the ol' switcheroo on him.

"Alright, come at me, bro," Kankurou grinned.

The blond narrowed his eyes. There was something he wasn't seeing here, but the only way he'd figure out what was up is if he charged in. With that, he sped forward and punched Kankurou in the face, only for it to crumble to reveal the extremely creepy face of Karasu.

Naruto jumped back in surprise, just barely moving his head enough to avoid the kunai that flew from the puppet's mouth. "When did you––"

Kankurou suddenly rose from the ground a dozen feet away, a smug smirk on his face. "Yeah, that whole little lecture I gave you? That was my puppet talking. Impossible to tell, isn't it?"

"No kidding. Was that a genjutsu or something?" Naruto asked, curious.

"Sort of, yeah. It's complicated. More importantly, _dude_," Kankurou said, nodding his head towards something behind the blond.

Naruto followed his gaze to see Tayuya lying on her stomach under the shade of a tarp, reading what looked like her family's scrolls. She held her hands up in the air as if she were holding a flute, every now and then mimicking the movements of playing.

Like Naruto a simple tank top adorned her torso, and she too was wearing a piece of Temari's clothing––a ridiculously short mini-skirt paired with a pair of her training shorts. She wasn't wearing any shoes, so her bare feet twitched and swung rhythmically in the air in time with her fingers.

"How are you not hitting that?!" Kankurou whistled, nudging him with his elbow.

Staring at her light pink lips pursing in time to the music in her head, he briefly wondered the same thing. "It's not like that."

"It should be. She likes you, so just go for it."

Naruto shook his head, recoiling at the thought. "Tayuya-chan? No way."

"Come on, she's always around you, and you're the only person she doesn't get super bitchy with."

"That's because we're friends," he mumbled, still staring at her. He wanted to look away, but something about her demanded his full attention. It was both confusing and frustrating.

"No, _we're_ friends, and I definitely don't wanna be around you all the time." Naruto looked unconvinced, so Kankurou sighed. "Fine, stay friends, I'm not stopping you. Just don't get upset when you see her smoochin' some other dude."

The blond's face took on a sickly expression. The thought of Tayuya hugging another guy, kissing another guy, giving another guy the bright smile that she only gave to him...he felt physically ill. What the hell was this feeling? It felt similar to what he'd felt when Sakura used to moon over Sasuke, but a hundred–no, a thousand–times stronger.

The more he thought about it, the more his chest ached and his stomach churned. He kept picturing someone else's hands holding her hips, someone else's lips kissing hers, and the worst part of it all was that she was enjoying it. She looked happier than he'd ever seen her with him, and a deep bitterness crept into his heart. How dare she find someone else after all he'd done for her? After he'd helped her to open up, gave her her fucking legs back, and basically helped her start her life over again, how could she just abandon him like that? Like he was nothing to her?

His anger dissipated almost as soon as it'd come and Naruto shook his head, getting rid of the images that hadn't even happened. That wasn't fair. She didn't owe him anything, and worse, he was being a horrible friend. It didn't matter how she felt about him. Hell, he didn't even understand how he felt about her. When they'd met he'd basically thrown her into the friend category, so what was different? They were still friends, and always would be. She didn't owe him a thing.

"You alright, dude?" Kankurou asked, noticing that Naruto's skin had taken on an slightly ashen color. "Maybe we should go inside. The heat might be getting to you."

"It's...it's not that, I just..." he trailed off, sighing slightly. "Nothing."

Kankurou placed his hand on the genin's shoulder, his touch surprisingly gentle. "If you want my advice, well, I think you should stop hanging out with her so much. It'll do you both some good. You know, give you some time to figure things out." The older boy clapped him on the shoulder one more time and walked off, puppet slung casually over his shoulder.

He didn't know how long he stood there studying the ground after Kankurou left his side, but it felt like hours had passed before Tayuya's voice rang in his ears.

"Hey, Naruto!" Tayuya called, noticing that they were done training for the moment. She pushed herself up into a sitting position, tucking her legs beneath her. "Do you wanna get something to eat in town? I'm starving."

His first inclination was to say yes, but he could hear Kankurou's voice in his head, urging him to say no. So, he did. "No thanks, I have some more training to do," he mumbled, glancing away from her.

The action wasn't missed by her, but she shrugged it off. It could've meant anything. "Oh, okay. Well, do you wanna train together until you get hungry?"

"It's something I need a lot of concentration for."

This time, Tayuya frowned slightly. She could understand that since she felt the same way whenever she felt like practicing with her flute, but he was acting weird, even for him. For one, he wasn't looking at her when he spoke. She also noticed that everything he said came out quietly, an oddity considering how loud he usually was. "Okay, well––okay. See you at dinner." She stared at the side of his face for another few seconds, waiting for an acknowledgement that never came. Something was up, but she didn't know what. Shaking her head, she walked back towards the house, scrolls hanging from her fingertips.

A sickening feeling came over him as he watched her go. It felt terrible acting so standoffish towards her. He already missed her company, and he suddenly no longer felt like training. Still, he reasoned that it would hurt more if she moved on while he still felt the way he did. He wasn't sure if he actually wanted to be with her, but he knew that he didn't want her to be with someone else. It was selfish and stupid––no doubt about that. Why the hell did this kind of stuff have to be so hard?

**"Because you're being an idiot,"** a voice in the back of his mind said. A voice that he knew all too well.

"Shut up," Naruto mumbled out loud.

**"She's perfect for you. I made sure of it."**

Naruto frowned. "Would you shut up about that? You're not helping anything."

The fox snorted but left him alone. For now, at least. There was no doubt in his mind that the bastard would have something else to say within the next couple of hours.

Two hours of boredom later, he was staring up at unfamiliar ceiling from his bed. He'd asked Gaara to give him his own room, and though his friend had raised a nonexistent eyebrow at the request, he'd done it anyway, happily––or as happy as Gaara can be––giving him the large room directly next to his own.

The first thing he'd noticed about the room was that it was too big for him. The windows were too big. The bed was too big. The _silence_ was too big. He felt alone, and it was the worst feeling in the world. He knew the feeling would fade eventually, though. It always had.

He set to work unpacking his few belongings to take his mind off of Tayuya, but it was a losing battle. Everything he owned reminded him of her, and after five minutes or so, he decided that he didn't need to unpack anyway.

A knock at the door shook him from his thoughts, and he slowly ambled over from his dresser to open it.

"Oh, hey," Naruto said, putting on a small smile as he looked down at the familiar pair of brown eyes. Her face looked angry, but seeing her at all put him in a much better mood. It was depressing the effect she had on him.

"What gives? Why did you suddenly want your own room?" she asked, miraculously keeping her temper under control.

Naruto shrugged. He hadn't actually thought of a good excuse for the change, so he said the first thing that came to mind. "I needed some privacy. We spend so much time together already, and I figured it'd be more comfortable for both of us this way."

"You've never needed privacy before."

"Well I do now," he snapped accidentally.

Her face suddenly morphed from anger into sadness. "Did I do something wrong? Is this about Temari? Because we worked it out. We're cool now, I swear."

At that moment, he wanted to punch himself. The look on her face made him feel like the biggest asshole in history, and worst, he knew he was only one of two people who could put it there; the other being her grandmother. He didn't deserve to be her friend. "It's...it's not your problem. It has to do with the fox."

If it was possible, her expression became even more alarming. "What's wrong? Is it hurting you? Should I get Jiraiya?"

Naruto sighed inwardly, considering ending the whole charade. It was his problem he was feeling confused, not hers. He started to apologize, to tell her he'd back in their room in a few minutes, but then his thoughts flashed back to Musashi and his face hardened. He didn't want to feel the way he did when he saw Musashi press his lips against hers. He couldn't handle it, especially not now when he felt so much more strongly about her than he did before.

He blinked at this train of thought, for the first time actually considering what this meant. He...he liked her. Holy shit, he liked her. He fought to keep a groan from slipping out of his throat. God, out of all the girls in the world, he had to like one who was practically asexual. She'd told him as much, saying that she found the idea of being together and settling down with someone disgusting. This had been over two years ago, but there was a very good chance that her opinions hadn't changed. At least not where he was concerned. She'd never feel anything stronger than friendship for him, so it didn't matter what he felt.

It didn't even make sense. She was pushy, had a potty mouth, obvious anger issues, hated kids and anything remotely cute, and worst of all, she'd helped kidnap Sasuke. Shouldn't he hate her?

On the other hand, she was extremely loyal, always fun to be around, extremely pretty when she smiled, smart, and cared more about him than anyone else in his life. She always had his back in pretty much anything he did (unless it was extremely stupid), and that was probably the rarest thing on Earth to find. It was also why he couldn't bear it if she gave all of that to someone else.

"Naruto?" Tayuya asked, stepping forward to study him more closely.

Naruto took a step back, and he winced when he saw her face drop slightly. "It's fine, I've got it. Good night." He closed the door in her face before she could say another word. A split second later, he both heard and felt her kick the door and stomp off down the hall.

**"Sure, blame the fox. What did I ever do to you?"** the Kyuubi rumbled from the dark recesses of his mind.

"You flattened half of Konoha and made my childhood a living hell."

**"Well, you know, besides that."**

Naruto sighed. He really didn't want to deal with him. Not now. "Why are you being so chatty all of a sudden?"

**"Because you're ruining the plan. I went through all that effort to lay the groundwork and you're not following up. Like I've been saying for years now, I fixed her for you. Her hair, her breasts, her ass–"**

Shut up," he murmured, feeling his neck heat up. He'd just been staring at all of those things a few seconds ago, and grudgingly had to admit that if the Kyuubi was telling the truth, he'd done a remarkable job on sculpting all of those things.

The fox grumbled for a few seconds but quieted down. He was tired of explaining himself to a human anyway. Such weak, ungrateful little creatures, the lot of them.

* * *

Temari frowned into the mirror for the fourth time, annoyed that her hair wasn't cooperating with her. No matter what hairstyle she tried, it didn't look right with her new bra. Down, up, in four pigtails...nothing fit. Of course, Shikamaru would just shrug and say she looked pretty no matter what, but she wanted to know that it was true without a doubt.

Granted, she'd be out of the bra within seconds of him seeing it and her hair would come undone only a few minutes later, but she rather liked dressing up. It wasn't like she got to do it often on missions or when serving as a diplomat for Suna.

A quiet knock on her door broke her out of her thought, and Temari hopped up from her vanity with a sigh, pulling on a t-shirt she'd found lying on the floor. She was expecting to see Kankurou or Gaara when she opened the door, but was more than a little surprised to see a lightly sniffling Tayuya looking up at her. She was even more surprised to see that she didn't look angry, but instead sad.

Her eyes were moist, and it was obvious that she was trying not to cry–which was extremely odd since she was sure that the redhead didn't even have tear ducts. "Naruto?" she asked, knowing it was probably the only thing that could make her so upset. Tayuya nodded, and Temari motioned for her to come in.

Tayuya sat on her bed and placed her hand on her forehead, rubbing at it with her fingers. "I can't figure out what the fuck his problem is! I've thought of everything, and it's not making any sense! The only thing he could be mad about is us fighting, but we already stopped. I _told_ him we stopped."

"Are you going to cry?" Temari asked, glancing at the box of tissues on her nightstand and wondering if she should grab it. She wasn't good at this whole girl talk thing since she barely had any girl friends to begin with. Growing up, most of them were petrified of her little brother, and if they weren't, their parents were. Sure, they all wanted to be friends with her _now,_ but she no longer saw the point.

She found most of them vapid and annoying, and frustratingly enough, Tayuya was actually more of a friend to her than any other girl she knew. Not counting Matsuri, anyway. Ino was also sort of her friend, though that had only happened when she'd walked in on her and Shikamaru, well...point was, they actually conversed semi-regularly. Mostly about Shika and their relationship, but also occasionally about girl things like flowers and dresses.

Tayuya lifted her head to glare at Temari. "I don't cry. I'm just...I don't know why he's ignoring me all of a sudden. He moves out of our room without even giving me a good reason and he barely looks me in the eye when I try to talk to him. He's treating me like I'm not even his goddamn friend anymore, but that can't be true, right?"

Temari placed her palm against her face, instantly understanding what was going on. "Damnit, Naruto."

"What?" she asked, standing up and grabbing the girl's arm. She released it just as quickly, embarrassed at how eager she sounded.

The blonde smirked slightly before answering. "Naruto probably likes you and doesn't know how to deal with it yet."

Tayuya blinked a few times, mouth dropping open at the girl's statement. It was a dizzying proposition, to the point where she had to sit down again. She suddenly couldn't catch her breath, and it was a good minute before she spoke. "So you're saying he's treating me like shit because he likes me...like, romantically."

Temari slowly nodded her head. "Pretty much."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"It is, but so are guys most of the time," Temari shrugged.

The redhead sighed, still not ready to believe her. "How do you even know?"

"Shikamaru did the same thing. He stopped writing me back for a few months so I got worried and took a trip to see him. Turns out he'd fallen in love with me but was too afraid to tell me about it, so he decided to push me away instead. Stupid, really. As if I couldn't feel the same way about him."

Tayuya gravely shook her head, feeling her anger begin to grow. She was constantly cycling between ire and disbelief, unsure of whether she should be upset or flattered that Naruto was doing this. She always thought she'd be able to tell if he felt something for her. Not that she'd thought much about it since the time he'd kissed her on the cheek a year ago, but he wasn't exactly hard to read most of the time. Then again, ever since he'd gotten back from Kumo, he'd been different. More secretive. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that she didn't know him as well as she thought she did.

"Maybe he's just having a bad week," she mumbled, still unable to wrap her head around the whole thing.

"Tayuya..." Temari sighed. "I'm only going to say this once. Alright?" She waited for the girl to nod before continuing. "Quit dancing around the issue. You're not hideous, so by default, Naruto likes you at least a little bit even if he just wants to screw you. If you like him, do something about it, even if you just lead him into asking you out. If you don't, just flat out tell him and hope for the best. Worst case I'm wrong and you both laugh it off."

"Naruto's not like most guys. He doesn't really see looks like that," Tayuya reasoned even though she knew how stupid her words sounded before she said them.

A short bark of laughter slipped out of Temari's throat. "He's a teenaged guy. Trust me, he's ogled you plenty while you weren't looking."

The redhead sighed. "So what should I do?" she asked, voice small and confused. She absolutely hated how weak he made her feel. Her greatest point of pride used to be her fierce independence, but ever since she'd met him, it felt like her entire life revolved around the idiot. His happiness was her happiness, and his sadness was her sadness. It pissed her off, but what could she do about it now? Did she even want to do anything?

Sensing her confusion, Temari nudged her with her shoulder. "Well, like I said, either do something or do nothing. Those are your only real options."

"So..."

"Oh no, I've already narrowed it down for you and given you a couple of ideas. This is your problem."

"Well, what do you think I should do?"

Temari shrugged a shoulder. "Personally, I think you two are weirdly cute together, but it's not about me. What do _you_ want?"

Tayuya leaned back on her hands, face dropping even more. What _did _she want? She knew she wanted to be strong as shit, and she knew she wanted Orochimaru dead, but what about her personal life?

"I'm not the relationship type," she mumbled after a little thought.

"What's the relationship type?"

She leaned forward and wrung her hands, feeling uncomfortable even thinking about this. "You know, wanting the whole married with 2.5 kids and a white picket fence shit. I hate kids, I think marriage is a sham, and I can't be all cute and girly like other girls can. It's not me, it'll never _be_ me, and that's what Naruto wants."

"How do you know what Naruto wants? Did you ask him?"

She was silent for a minute, realizing that they had never really discussed future plans with him past 'beat the Akatsuki and get Sasuke back.' What was after that? He'd become Hokage most likely, but what would she do? Live the rest of her life as a shinobi of the Leaf? Become a traveling musician? What was the point of her life besides helping Naruto?

Taking her silence to mean that she was too confused to continue the conversation in any reasonable capacity, Temari spoke again. "You'll figure something out. You and Naruto like each other. That's all you really need." She pat her on the back and stood up. "Now get the hell out of my room."

"I never said I liked Naruto," Tayuya mumbled unconvincingly, also standing. Still, she smiled shortly afterwards. "Thanks for your help."

"Sure. Beat it."

"Bitch."

"Whore."

**AN:** **So, basically, the reason this story has slowed down a lot is for two reasons: First, I work full time now (I'M SO OLD), and second, I also write iCarly fanfiction on another account. I even wrote an iCarly story for NaNoWriMo which meant that I didn't write anything Melody related for the entire month of November. I know, it's lame, but I started writing it to be funny and eventually I ended up liking the Seddie pairing and writing more for them. Ugh. Don't worry, I got most of it out of my system and the stuff I learned from that will actually help with this story later on. ;)**

**Thanks for reviewing, guys. It's 100% of the reason why I can't forget this story.  
**


	35. Chapter 35

**The Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 35**

A week passed since their confrontation at his door. If he had to describe his time away from Tayuya, it was basically fucking horrible. Some days he didn't even feel like getting out of bed, and if he did, it was only after Kankurou, Gaara or Jiraiya dragged him out for training. It sounded overdramatic, but it literally felt like his soul was dead. Even his impending birthday wasn't enough to cheer him up. Then again, it'd never cheered him up what with it being the anniversary of the biggest calamity to ever hit Konoha and all.

He'd never realized what her companionship meant to him before. They really were attached at the hip for most of the day, and it wasn't like he could rely on any of the Sand siblings to fill the void. Gaara was busy all the time, Kankurou's idea of fun (picking up chicks and drinking) wasn't very fun, and Temari seemed to be spending all of her time with Tayuya. Which was weird considering how often they'd been at each others' throats––literally, as he'd found out––since they met.

On the bright side, he'd learned a lot about his wind element by training with Baki at Gaara's insistence. Even though he was stoic and a bit cold, the man knew his stuff. He'd taught him how to make a damn near unblockable blade out of wind, how to use a burst of wind to launch himself dozens of meters in any direction, and how to shoot a powerful ball of air from his mouth. He hadn't yet mastered any of the techniques, but at this point, it was all about practice.

Since he and Tayuya were barely speaking, he had all the time in the world to get better, and so did she. He'd spied on her a couple of times when she was busy practicing the earth ninjutsu she'd learned from her family's scrolls, and she was doing some pretty devastating stuff. Stuff he wouldn't want aimed in his direction and was worried that she'd eventually use on him for being so cold towards her lately. He certainly wouldn't blame her.

He lie on his back in the sun, amazed at how quickly he'd gotten used to the heat. It was still hot, and he was still sweating like a pig, but it didn't bother him as much as it did when they'd first arrived in the desert. It was even a little comforting, almost like a warm hug. Not that he'd had all that many hugs in his lifetime. Actually, he could count them all on two hands, and most of the recent ones he could remember were from Anko whenever she felt like rubbing her chest up against him. God, she freaked him out.

A sudden shadow appeared over him, and he squinted up to see Gaara staring down at him. "Hey, Gaara, what're you doing here? Don't you have Kazekage duties?"

It sort of looked like the boy frowned, but it was hard to tell when he wore such a constantly bored and neutral expression. "I took the afternoon off. I wanted to spar with you."

Naruto pushed himself up into a sitting position, grinning excitedly. "A spar? Awesome! We haven't fought since..."

"Since I tried to turn Konoha into a desert."

"Yeah, since then," the blond laughed. It always surprised him how funny Gaara was. It was very dry humor, which only seemed appropriate considering his origin and primary skillset. He fully stood up and brushed off his pants. "What kind of spar are we talkin' about here? Taijutsu?"

"Everything." Naruto raised his eyebrows and Gaara's lips twitched upwards. "Except for the obvious."

The blond laughed again, stretching his limbs and flexing his muscles to show off a bit. He didn't consider himself narcissistic, but he'd have to be blind not to realize how ripped he was. At the very least, it served as good intimidation for would-be opponents. "I dunno, Gaara, I'm pretty strong now. I have some really big attacks."

"The Kazekage isn't just a title. I have some big attacks of my own."

"Okay, if you're sure," Naruto shrugged. He pulled out a kunai and flipped it around in his hand. "When this hits the ground, we go. Fine with you?"

Gaara nodded his head and walked a few meters away. "Whenever you're ready."

Naruto tossed the weapon as hard as he could in the air and watched it fly, a bit worried that he'd put too much strength into the throw. After a few seconds it finally began to descend, and as it did, he began to gather chakra into his body.

Not even a millisecond after the weapon hit the ground did a wave of sand rush towards him, but he was ready. Using the new technique he'd learned from Baki, he blasted himself into the air and formed ten kage bunshin to surround him a second before dozens of sand bullets pierced their bodies. He made a final kage bunshin to throw him down to the ground faster, flipping himself out of the way of a few sand spikes that came up from the ground.

He had to hand it to Gaara; he knew how to keep him on his feet. He barely had enough time to think let alone attack, but that was about to change. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" he yelled, forming thirty clones. They split up and made a beeline for the Kazekage, moving at full speed. Well, as fast as they could run with their weights on.

Naruto knew Gaara's weakness. The sand was only so fast even if it was an automatic defense, and with thirty different fists coming at him from thirty different angles, it'd be easy to take him down unless he decided to wrap himself up in his shell. But that'd be no fun, so he decided to leave the weights on for the time being.

He left one clone behind and ran along with the others, mentally coordinating with them to form a plan of attack. It was a neat little trick he'd picked up while in Kumo. Since they were all him and they all had the exact same brain pattern, he found that he could control them to a certain extent if he concentrated hard enough. They could still choose not to listen, of course, but he could plant subtle suggestions without them noticing so that they'd usually do what he said.

They got within two feet of Gaara, but unfortunately, the sand around the boy suddenly sunk, dropping them all into a pit and closing it over them shortly afterwards. He and a few clones just barely managed to slip out, and when they did, they were right upon him.

The original Naruto tried to sweep his feet out from under him, but the leg simply collapsed into sand. Of course, a Suna bunshin. It was _always_ a Suna bunshin. He was starting to understand how the people he fought felt whenever he used his shadow clones.

On instinct he created another clone to his left, and milliseconds later, it exploded, the momentum from Gaara's unseen attack sending him flying again. Gaara when he wasn't half possessed by a demon was much, _much_ harder to fight. He was smarter and more elusive with an arsenal of at least a hundred jutsus at his disposal instead of the mindless beast he'd dealt with last time. He found himself wishing that the Ichibi would take over–at least long enough for him to get his bearings.

Naruto smirked. Looks like he'd have to be even smarter. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" he yelled in midair, forming a clone next to him. The clone grabbed his leg and swung him back towards Gaara before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

On the other side of the sandy clearing, Gaara frowned. He couldn't hide his disappointment at Naruto's obvious tactics and reliance on the kage bunshin. Kankurou had spoken highly of how much Naruto had improved, but he wasn't seeing any of it. Why was Naruto coming at him head on? Didn't he know that was suicide? Sighing, he raised his hand and sent a huge wave of sand forward to capture the blond, deciding to end this before he could be disappointed anymore.

To his surprise only around a quarter of his sand moved, and it wasn't until he looked down that he noticed that the sand in his immediate vicinity had been crystallized––most likely by some sort of fire jutsu. Which was odd since, as far as he knew, Naruto didn't know any of those.

"When did–"

"You really need to keep track of the clones I make," Naruto smirked from behind him. Gaara's sand just barely stopped the blade of wind that had been heading straight for the back of his neck while destroying the clone at the same time.

"Clever, but it's easy enough to break the sand down again."

"True. Why don't you try?"

Gaara narrowed his eyes. Was he bluffing? Or was there a trap? There couldn't be. There was no way. He sent some of his own personal sand into the ground to speed up the process as he sent sand bullets at Naruto to keep him at bay.

"Oi, Gaara!" a voice yelled from behind him.

He turned to see another Naruto forming a huge ball of glowing chakra in his hands. It looked like the rasengan, but three times as big. Shit.

"Odama rasengan!" Naruto yelled, running full speed towards him.

Thinking quickly, Gaara covered himself in a dome of sand, layering and hardening it so that it'd be inpenetrable. Even a burrowing technique like the rasengan couldn't get through this.

Just as he started to form an eye of sand to look around, he heard the sound of multiple kunai hitting his sand dome from different sides. A second later, he felt himself being blown out of the dome. He winced at the burn on his arm where his sand armor had been blasted away, gripping the wound with his free hand as he flew. Thankfully, Naruto caught him in midair before he could hit the ground.

"I win," Naruto said, a wide, foxy grin on his face as he set his friend down.

The Kazekage rubbed at his forehead. He had a major headache, and not from the Ichibi this time. "How?" Gaara groaned.

"That sand you broke down? There was some gunpowder mixed in, so when I set fire to your dome...boom!"

"I can't believe you won."

"Eh, it was a spar and you were holding back."

Gaara grabbed Naruto's wrist, pointedly nodding towards the weights he wore. "So were you."

Naruto shrugged slightly, wide grin still on his face. That spar had been just what he needed to take his mind off of his problems with Tayuya. "I'm hungry! Wanna get food? My treat!"

"No, I lost, I'll pay."

The blond shrugged again. "Well, if you say so." He normally felt slightly guilty whenever anyone his own age offered to buy him food, but with Gaara, he didn't feel bad about it at all. He was the Kazekage, so he was probably loaded. He let his friend lead the way into town. Since he was buying, he was choosing the restaurant.

The streets were relatively empty since it was around midday, and personally, he was thankful for it. Crowds didn't usually bother him, but when he was hungry, all he could see was a group of obstacles keeping him from his food.

So he was visibly surprised when two girls came up to them, both of them smiling shyly. They looked similar in that they both had short brown hair and large green eyes, and the only real difference that Naruto could see was in their height. One stood at around his height, and the other was almost comically short––shorter than even Tayuya who was an even five feet tall on a good day.

He felt a small smile slip onto his face as he thought about his spitfire teammate. He constantly forgot that she was so petite since she carried herself as if she were a giant. While he'd grown around six inches over the years, she'd grown maybe an inch at best. Vertically, at least. She'd definitely grown a lot in other areas.

"Um, Kazekage-sama, can we have a picture with you?" the shorter girl asked, nervously biting her lip.

Gaara tried to move around her to no avail as she again stepped in front of him to block his path. "We're in a hurry."

The girls' faces fell, so Naruto nudged his friend in the side. Amusingly his sand defense blocked most of the blow, even though his intentions weren't to harm him. "Come on, Gaara, they're your fans! We can put off lunch for a few minutes!" he said, ignoring the angry protests from his stomach.

Unable to take the pleading stares of both the girls and Naruto, Gaara dropped his shoulders in defeat. "Alright."

The girls excitedly jumped up and down before thrusting a small camera in Naruto's direction. Naruto started to take the camera from them, but he was stopped by Gaara's hand. "If I'm taking a picture, you're going to be in it, too. It's not often you'll get two kages together, after all."

"You're a kage?" the taller girl asked. She stepped uncomfortably close to Naruto, narrowing her eyes to scrutinize him.

Gaara nodded, shooting his friend a small smirk. "He will be." He motioned for a civilian–who looked surprised to see the Kazekage out in training gear and with two girls, no less–to take their picture. The man of course obliged, taking a few snaps of the four teenagers before handing it back to the girls.

"Thanks so much! We'll treasure this forever!" The girls glanced at each other before pouncing on both boys, hugging them tightly. A second later they giggled and ran off.

"See? That wasn't so bad."

"One of them squeezed my butt."

"Yours too, huh?" Naruto laughed, and Gaara smirked. He loved having Naruto in Suna with him. New, fun things always seemed to happen whenever he was around, and he was forced to step out of comfort zone on a near constant basis. If he could, he'd keep him here permanently. Not only would his best friend be around all the time, but Suna's firepower would nearly double. Konoha didn't know how they good they had it.

They continued on towards the market district until they reached a small, private soba stand. Since Naruto had never tried it before, Gaara took it upon himself to order for the both of them. The cook rushed to get their food to them, and it was mere minutes before a bowl of strange noodles were placed in front of the teens.

Naruto grabbed his chopsticks and raised his hand over the bowl, gulping a little with trepidation. He didn't know why he was so nervous about trying something new, so with a quiet itadakimasu, he dipped the utensils into the soup and shoved a mouthful of noodles into his mouth to find that the dish actually tasted pretty good. It wasn't ramen–not even close–but it was still tasty. He could get used to soba.

The boys were just finishing their second bowl of noodles when Gaara decided to speak up. "So, Temari tells me you're in love with Tayuya."

Naruto choked on his noodles at the sudden statement, and Gaara had to pat him on the back a few times to dislodge them from his esophagus. "I'm not! I just...I'm just confused."

"So you're going to cut her out of your life until you figure it out? That's absurd."

The blond shook his head. "You don't get it. I don't _want_ to do it, but it'll be better for the both of us to have some space to think."

"What do you need to think about? You share a _bed_, Naruto. Normal friends don't do that."

He idly wondered what Gaara would know about normal friends considering his past, but he had to admit that he had a point. He hadn't really questioned it since he figured Tayuya would've said something about it if it was weird, but now that he thought about it, she probably wouldn't know much about normal friendship, either.

And maybe that's why she was the best friend he'd ever had. She didn't have many past experiences to effect how she treated him, and vice versa. She was used to being mostly on her own and relying only on herself just like was. Yeah, she'd had the Sound Five, but if her stories were to be believed they were more like asshole coworkers than comrades. They worked together to avoid pissing off Orochimaru–nothing more, nothing less.

Tayuya fully trusted him, fully believed in him, and he was treating her like shit. He felt like an idiot for even considering listening to Kankurou's advice–though it _had_ made him realize how much she meant to him, so maybe it'd worked after all.

If he was being honest with himself, he'd realized it the moment she appeared at his door a week ago. That feeling of happiness and relief he felt at just seeing her face...there was no way that was normal. It was only his stubbornness that had kept them apart for this long, and all it'd taken was a few words from Gaara to help him see how stupid he was being.

"How can I fix this?" he mumbled, staring down into his bowl of noodles.

"Invite her out dancing. Temari, Kankurou and I will go to make it seem like it's just a group outing, but we'll give you your space so that you reconcile," Gaara pushed, sensing his change of heart.

Naruto sighed, suddenly not very hungry. It did sound like a good idea, and he did miss her something fierce. Besides, he'd never been dancing before and it seemed like fun. "What if she says no? To dancing, I mean."

"She won't. If you tell her we're going on your birthday, she can't refuse you."

Naruto gave him an incredulous stare. "You really think so?"

Gaara nodded slowly, taking a sip of the iced tea he'd ordered. "It was Temari's idea, and she knows people very well. Especially Tayuya."

"Well, okay. Thanks. You're a good friend." He punched the redhead lightly on the shoulder as he said this, and was once again amused by the small amount of sand that appeared to absorb the blow.

On the way home, Naruto was lost in his thoughts. Gaara had insisted that he ask her immediately after their return before he lost his nerve, so he was currently running through ways he could bring it up. They hadn't even exchanged a word since their fight, so it'd be awkward at best and a bloody massacre at worst. He could only hope that she was in a decent enough mood to not rip his head off. Literally.

When they made it back to the house, Gaara motioned for him to go up to her room and even followed him halfway up so that he couldn't chicken out. He stopped in front of their–her–room and paused with his hand in midair, suddenly getting cold feet. He started to turn around, but Gaara crossed his arms from the staircase, frowning by the smallest amount. Seeing that he had no way out this time, Naruto sighed and knocked on the door, hoping she wasn't even in there. No such luck.

The door opened to reveal a sleepy looking Tayuya, but when she saw his face, it turned into what looked like a mix between annoyance and nervousness. "What?" she asked, voice coming out less angry than she'd wanted it to.

Naruto too was put off by the lack of heat in her tone. He'd been expecting a lot more anger considering how upset she'd been after their last conversation, but she just seemed...tired. Lethargic, even. "Do you, uh, I dunno...wanna go dancing tomorrow?"

She didn't even try to hide the surprise on her face. "Dancing? Us?"

"At a club or something. Kankurou knows a place, so I was thinking it might be fun if all of us went out. Together." She still looked unsure, and he chose that moment to play the card Gaara had told him to use. "You know, since it's my birthday and all."

A small sigh slipped past her lips. He looked so hopeful, and she hadn't done anything fun in days, so why the hell not? "Oh, well, sounds cool."

"Great! We're going tomorrow night at 10."

"Cool."

"Cool." He stood awkwardly for another second before stiffly turning around and walking down the stairs, trying not to smile as widely as he wanted to.

As she closed the door behind him, she felt the corners of her lips twitch upwards. She didn't want to smile or feel happy, but it was like trying to stop herself from swearing. She was still pissed at him–and would be until he apologized and begged for her forgiveness–but she was also glad to see his face. To see his eyes staring into hers. To smell his unique, earthy scent again.

Her eyes widened slightly as she realized something important; she didn't have anything to wear. She rushed to talk to Temari, certain that she'd have an outfit for her to borrow.

The next day passed by in a blur for Naruto. He vaguely remembered getting a few birthday gifts, and he sort of remembered training with Temari and Baki, but his mind was focused primarily on going clubbing with Tayuya. Unfortunately his only good outfit was still in her pack since she was convinced he'd ruin it otherwise, and groaning softly, he went to go get it from her. He softly knocked on her door and held his breath.

"Tayuya opened the door quickly, mouth forming a thin line when she saw who it was. "Yeah?"

"I, uh, need my good shirt and pants. They're still in your pack, I think."

She scowled up at him, apparently gaining back some of her anger towards him since the last time they'd talked. "Stay here."

He watched her walk over to her bag in the corner, but when she bent over to open it, he was forced to avert his gaze. The last thing he needed was for her to turn around and see him staring at her ass.

"Here," she said, practically throwing the items at him.

Reacting quickly, Naruto just barely caught the clothing before they hit him in the face. "Thanks." He started to leave, but the feel of her hand on his sleeve stopped him cold. He slowly turned to look down at her, eyebrows raised. She refused to meet his eyes, instead focusing her gaze on his shoulder.

"Wait! I, um. I baked you a cake." She walked out of the room and jogged down the staircase, ignoring the shocked look on his face as she passed him. "Well? Come on," she said from the foyer, motioning for him to follow her.

Naruto, finally snapping out of his surprise induced daze, did as she asked and descended the stairs.

Just as he reached the kitchen, Tayuya pulled a round, ten-inch cake out of the fridge and set it down in front of him on the counter top. It had white frosting with tons of orange and black sprinkles, and suddenly he realized why she'd asked him about his favorite ice cream a couple of weeks ago. _'Happy 16th, Jackass!'_ was written in perfect cursive on the top of it, and he couldn't help but laugh. That was just like Tayuya, alright.

"Happy birthday, jackass," she grinned cutely, looking distinctly proud of herself.

He wanted to match her grin, but all he could do was frown. "I don't deserve this."

"It's your birthday, of course you do. You can have anything you want on your birthday. That's what Anko says, anyway."

Before she could react he hugged her tightly, burying his face in her hair. It didn't matter if she liked him or not. It didn't matter if she decided she wanted to kiss some other guy. She was still the best thing that had ever happened to him, and even if he was destined to just be her friend, so what? Her friendship was the best gift he could ever have.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, voice barely audible.

She wrapped her arms around him with confusion, finally returning the hug. She didn't know what he was sorry about exactly. Was he sorry for ignoring her or sorry for possibly liking her? Whichever it was he seemed sincere about it, so she grudgingly let go of her anger. It was annoying how easily she forgave him, but she couldn't stay mad at Naruto. It was impossible. "It's okay?"

He shook his head, gripping her tighter. "It's not okay. I was stupid."

"What else is new?" she joked, feeling oddly at ease being in his arms. "But it's really okay. You get a pass on your birthday. I'm still kicking your ass tomorrow, though." She reluctantly pulled away and walked over to the cabinet. She grabbed a knife, two forks, and two plates, setting them down in front of her. She then cut two large pieces for each of them before putting the cake back into the fridge.

He took a large bite and sighed, practically rolling his eyes at the taste. "This is awesome," he said.

"You like it that much?"

He nodded. "This is the first birthday cake I've ever gotten."

She smirked and took a bite for herself, a little surprised at how good it was. "Well, it's the first birthday cake I've ever made. Shit, I'm amazing."

Naruto lifted his eyes to look into hers. "You are."

Tayuya stared back, fork halfway to her open mouth. she felt her face heating up and quickly looked away from him. She wasn't ready to deal with the feeling that was spreading across her chest. Not yet.

They ate in silence, the only sounds in the room being their forks scraping against the plates. Even after they finished they stood there for another few minutes, neither of them knowing what to say or do next.

"I'm gonna go take a nap," Tayuya mumbled, grabbing both of their dishes and placing them in the sink.

"Yeah, I should do the same. Dancing tonight, right?"

"Right." She smiled slightly and nearly ran towards the doorway leading back to the stairs.

"Thanks for the cake," he called to her retreating back. He frowned slightly when she didn't answer, but shrugged it off. He couldn't expect her to forgive him so easily, birthday or not. It was more than enough that she was even willing to speak to him.

* * *

Waiting for the girls to descend the staircase was one of the most nervewracking things he'd ever experienced. He'd barely gotten any sleep while trying to take a nap, his mind racing with possibilities and what he'd say and what he'd do and how he'd do it and––

"Calm down," Gaara said from his right.

Naruto blinked. "Huh?"

"Your knee. It's bouncing."

He glanced down to see that it was doing more than simply bouncing. It was more like a jackhammer, and he wouldn't be surprised if the floor beneath him suddenly crumbled.

"What's taking them so long?" he asked, eyes flickering up to the staircase.

Kankurou shrugged. "They're girls. It happens."

Right after he said that, the sound of a door opening reached his ears. All three boys turned their gazes to the top of the stairs, and all three of them widened their eyes.

Temari came out first, so Naruto took the chance to take in her appearance. She wore a tight, short, sleeveless dark green dress, and her blond hair was down and hanging around her shoulders. Her heels were at least four or five inches, something that did amazing things to her legs, and she clutched a tiny black purse in her hand. All in all, she looked great. And then his eyes slid to Tayuya.

She wasn't just beautiful, she was..._hot._ Her long red hair had been straightened so that it fell to just past her shoulder blades, and the short, tiny blue dress she wore clung to every curve. He'd honestly never noticed how amazing her ass was as it curved into her smooth, muscled thighs, and he couldn't stop his eyes from running hungrily up and down her body.

She'd taken her weights off, so the skin on her wrists and ankles was slightly lighter. The only make up she wore was lip gloss and a bit of eyeliner that made her reddish brown eyes pop more than they usually did, and the effect was amazing. He couldn't look away.

Naruto awkwardly cleared his throat and stuck his tongue out to moisten his suddenly dry lips. "Can we leave already? It's 10:30," he said, still staring up at Tayuya. He was thankful that she was too busy talking to Temari to notice his gaze, otherwise she might have jumped over the banister and kicked his ass.

Kankurou jabbed him on the shoulder with his fist to get his attention. "Don't sweat it, bro, the real party doesn't start until midnight anyway."

The girls descended the staircase slowly, taking their time so as not to fall on their faces. She was wearing low heels unlike Temari's five inch ones, so it was much easier for her to stride up to him. He got a good whiff of her perfume. It smelled fresh, like strawberries and grass.

"You look...wow," Naruto mumbled, nervously scratching the back of his head for the first time in weeks.

Tayuya scowled while trying to fight back her nervousness. It amused her that her appearance was causing him to regress into his old habits, but it was also extremely embarrassing. "Remember what I said about compliments?"

"That you'd punch me in the nuts if I gave them to you?"

"Yup. I'll let it slide for tonight, though, since I do look pretty fuckin' amazing." She threw her fists into the air, doing all kinds of wonderful things to her breasts. "Shower me with your praises!"

Naruto laughed out loud. Even if she was different on the outside, she was still just as brash and cocky as usual. To be honest, it relieved him. He was just starting to become intimidated by her, and it was a grim reminder that she could have her pick of guys if she wanted them. No one in their right mind would turn her down.

They arrived at the club ten minutes later, and unsurprisingly, there was a line wrapped halfway around the building.

Seeing Naruto's worried expression, Kankurou slung an arm over his shoulder and led him to the front of the line. "Don't sweat it, man, you're with us." Just as he'd said, they were instantly allowed to enter amidst the screams of girls yelling Gaara's name and guys whistling in appreciation of Temari and Tayuya.

The club was packed with kids eighteen and older, and Naruto couldn't help but feel out of place amidst the young adults. "Am I even allowed to be here?" Naruto yelled over the loud, thumping music. It was taking him awhile to adjust to the bright, colorful lights coming from the ceiling, and it was really starting to give him a headache.

Kankurou waved his question off with a flick of his hand. "Don't worry about it! Just have fun!" With that, the jounin disappeared into the crowd. He noticed that Temari and Tayuya had also slunk off somewhere, leaving just him and Gaara alone at the bar.

"I didn't think this was your scene," Naruto joked, leaning against the counter next to Gaara.

The boy frowned. "It's not."

"Why'd you come, then?"

A strange expression flashed across the redhead's face, though it was gone almost as quickly as it had appeared. "To help you with Tayuya, and...to have fun with my precious people."

Naruto stared at the shorter boy, amazed that he'd actually admitted it. He really had come a long way from the psychopath he used to be. "Then what're we standing around for? Let's dance!" He grabbed Gaara's arm and pulled him into the mass of writhing bodies.

He wasn't really sure what he was doing, so he simply decided to copy the way everyone else was moving. He was stiff at first since his body wasn't used to moving in such a strange way, but after a couple of songs (and some sort of alcohol that Kankurou had thrust into his hands before disappearing again), he'd finally gotten the hang of it; especially after finding the similarities between dancing and fighting. It was all about rhythm and timing, something he had in spades after training with Bee, the Hachibi's jinchuuriki.

He got some strange looks for dancing with a guy––and the Kazekage, no less––but he didn't care. It was his birthday and he'd do whatever the hell he wanted. Shockingly, Gaara was keeping up well. His moves were more subdued, but the fact that he was trying at all both impressed and honored him more than words could say. He really did have amazing friends.

After awhile, it become like second nature to him. He jumped up and down with the rest of the crowd, closing his eyes and letting his long blond hair fly every which way without a care in the world. His arms and legs seemed to know exactly what to do, and it wasn't until someone tapped him on the shoulder that he slowed down and opened his eyes again.

"You're a good dancer!" someone yelled into his ear. He turned to see a young, bright eyed girl looking up at him with a wide smile on her face. She wore an extremely short, light blue dress, and her dark brown hair hung loosely around her shoulders. She expertly twirled and moved her hips to the beat, mesmerizing him with her movements. It was almost like she was a snakecharmer, attempting to lure him into her trap. A grin breaking out on his face, Naruto leaned down to answer.

"Thanks, you too!"

Taking that as an invitation, the girl moved from his side to his front, pressing herself closer to him.

Naruto froze, and because she was making every effort to rub body against his, he had trouble putting any sort of distance between them. Just as quickly as she'd started, though, she was forced to stop as Tayuya shoved her out of the way and took her place. She didn't look up at him for his reaction, instead just closing her eyes and moving to the music along with him.

She was good. _Really_ good. She wasn't doing the same things the other girl was doing–practically trying to have sex with him on the dance floor–but her moves were just as fun and much more energetic.

A grin spreading across his face, he leaned down to talk into her ear. "How'd you learn to dance like that?"

"Anko!" Tayuya shrugged her shoulders at his confused look and smiled. "It was a long year without you!"

Naruto wasn't sure what to do with his hands now that she was so close, so he placed them on her hips. She glanced up at him strangely but didn't move them, instead leaning a little closer to his body. It was odd. He felt something. It was an animalistic feeling, and the more they danced, the more powerful it became. The bass boomed powerfully throughout their bodies, and it wasn't long before he forgot he was surrounded by dozens of other people. In his mind, they were alone.

All too soon, the song stopped. As people began to clap for them, Tayuya pushed herself away from him. He wasn't sure if it was the light, but her eyes seemed to be...glowing. Just as quickly, they returned to normal, leaving him wondering if he'd even seen it at all.

Before he could ask her if she was alright, Kankurou appeared out of nowhere, Gaara being pulled along with him. Instantly, loud shouts of 'Kazekage-sama!' began to appear from the crowd. "You guys were amazing! There's no way this is your first time at a club!" Kankurou exclaimed, looping an around around both of their shoulders.

"I guess we're just naturals, right Tayuya-chan?"

She just stared at him with a frustratingly blank look, but after a few seconds, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Yeah, right. I need a drink." She pushed her way through the crowd, ignoring the advances of the guys and girls who'd seen her dance.

"Give me a water," she told the bartender, slipping herself onto one of the stools. The young man, who didn't even try to hide his leering, gave her what she wanted. Luckily for him her mind was miles away or else she might've shoved the glass down his throat.

"That was some performance," Temari said, taking the stool next to her. She held up a finger and the bartender placed what looked like a glass of beer in front of her, shooting her a wink as he did so. Unsurprisingly, the blonde ignored the gesture in favor of badgering Tayuya. "Does that mean you decided what to do about Naruto?"

"I'm just here to dance and have fun, nothing more, nothing less."

Temari shook her head. "Wow."

"What?"

"I didn't know you were such a coward is all."

"I am _not_ a fucking coward," Tayuya seethed.

The blonde pushed her drink in front of Tayuya. "Prove it. Drink this."

She grabbed the glass and took a big gulp without a moment's hesitation, only to instantly cough and sputter as the liquid burned her throat. "That's not beer!"

Temari laughed at the pained expression on her face and easily downed the rest of the beverage. "I never said it was."

At that moment, a dark haired guy strode up to the two of them, inserting himself into the conversation. "Either of you ladies want to dance?"

Both girls looked him over. He didn't seem as disgusting as most of the guys that had been bugging them all night, and he was attractive enough, so the blonde shrugged. "Fine," Temari sighed, taking the man's hand as if she were doing him the greatest favor in the world. "But touch anything and my brothers will know." The man noticeably paled, suddenly realizing who she was. Tayuya laughed at the poor sap. He didn't know what he'd gotten himself into.

On the other side of the room, the guys were having a similar conversation.

"She wants you, man. Don't you think she wants him, Gaara?" Kankurou exclaimed, waving his beer around.

Gaara dipped his head slightly in a half nod. "She was not adverse to you touching her."

"Right?! Even _he_ can see it."

Naruto sighed. This was the third time in ten minutes that Kankurou had brought this up, and it was really starting to get on his nerves. "It was just dancing."

"Dude, do you even _have _a penis? Okay, fine, if you're not gonna go for Tayuya, hook up with her," he said, pointing his beer at the girl that had been dancing with him before Tayuya intervened. "She's definitely into you. Look, she's licking her lips and doing the hair flip and everything! Plus you're not even from around here, so you don't have to worry about her trying to dig her claws into you later."

"I don't want to hook up with anyone," Naruto snapped. Which was the truth. He could objectively say that the girl was attractive, but she wasn't beautiful. She wasn't hot. She couldn't make his heart jump with only a grin or glance.

Kankurou smirked. "Unless it's Tayuya, right?"

The blond threw his hands up in the air. "Why do you want me together with her so much?"

"I don't really care who you're with, I just want you to not be such a loser. You're Gaara's best friend, so you're my little brother now. We're _family._ And let's face it, bro, you need to get laid."

Even though he tried to fight it, Naruto couldn't stop a small smile from appearing on his face. The fact that Kankurou considered him family made him a lot happier than it should've. It was the first time anyone had ever said something like that to him, even if he was not so subtly calling him a loser. "I just turned 16!"

"So? I lost my virginity at 14."

"To a cow," Gaara mumbled into his drink, causing Naruto to laugh.

"Says virgin number two."

"I'd rather wait for someone that doesn't moo."

Kankurou frowned, obviously not pleased with the direction the conversation had gone. "Whatever, I'm getting some tonight. Watch the master." He handed Naruto his drink and made a beeline for the dark-haired girl that had tried to dance with him earlier. She looked over at Naruto and pouted but grabbed Kankurou's arm anyway, walking with him to the dance floor.

"I think it's admirable that you want to save yourself for someone you love," Gaara said after his brother was out of sight.

Naruto smiled. "Thanks, Gaara."

"But you're stupid for not considering Tayuya to be that someone."

"I take my thanks back." Naruto drained Kankurou's bottle. He didn't like beer very much since it took far too much of it to get him drunk and it tasted terrible, but he was thirsty and it was free. "C'mon, let's dance some more."

––––

Tayuya slumped in her seat at the bar, nursing a drink she'd ordered over ten minutes ago. She'd danced with Temari, Kankurou, Gaara, and Naruto for almost three straight hours, and she was exhausted. Without a doubt her feet would be sore tomorrow, and she was grateful that she hadn't worn the four-inch heels Temari had tried to force on her. She might have had to amputate her feet otherwise.

"Fancy a dance? I couldn't help but notice your bright, red hair from across the room," a smooth voice said, catching her attention.

Tayuya groaned and turned to look at him. Besides the fact that she was far too tired to even _think_ about doing anymore dancing, the guy was skinny, dumb looking, and had possibly the sleaziest smile she'd ever seen on a person that wasn't Orochimaru. In other words, the complete opposite of her type. "Fuck off, dickless wonder."

Of course, he didn't catch the hint. They never did. "I see your hair matches your personality. I like that. Can I buy you a drink?"

She was just about to slam her fist into his nose when Naruto appeared from her left. He was smiling, but she could easily see the hostility in his eyes as he stared at the stranger. Somehow, it made her heart flutter a little.

"Hey, sorry, she's with me," the genin said, struggling to keep up his grin.

Apparently not believing him, the man narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Yeah? What's her name?"

Tayuya scowled. "My name is 'Leave before I shove my heel up your ass, faggot.'"

He looked surprised and angered by her language, but it made him walk away, shooting them both dirty looks as he disappeared into the crowd.

"Ouch, did you have to be so mean?" Naruto joked, reaching over and taking a swig from her drink.

"It's been happening all night. I'm just sick of it." She noticed him frown at this, an unreadable expression passing across his face.

He drained the rest of her glass and slammed it down on the bar. "Wanna get some air, then?"

The relief that poured into her face instantly gave him her answer, so he grabbed her hand and led her through the crowd towards the door.

"It always weirds me out how cold it gets at night in the desert," Tayuya said, rubbing her bare upper arms once they stepped outside. It was cold enough for her to see her breath, and the light sheen of sweat on her skin meant that she was only going to get colder. She almost gasped when Naruto wrapped his arms around her from behind, and she snapped her head up to look at him, alarm evident in her features. "What're you doing?"

"I don't have a jacket, and you're cold, so..."

As much as she wanted to push him away, she really did feel a lot warmer. She didn't know what it was about him, but his body was practically a furnace. She almost wanted to say that it was because of the Kyuubi sealed in his stomach. "Oh. Thanks." Her mind struggled for something else to say, and it wasn't until she glanced down at the arms encircling her that she thought of something amusing. "Did I tell you how great you looked tonight?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow but grinned. "Nope."

"Well, you look pretty hot. Like a side of beef."

His grin widened. "Coming from the hottest girl in the club, that means a lot." They shared a laugh at their exchange, both finding the whole thing ridiculous. It also helped to dissipate any awkwardness that came with the compliments. If they took each other seriously, well...neither was quite ready to think about that possibility.

As she stood there in the cool, night air wrapped in his arms, she felt herself becoming hyper aware of everything around her. The loud, thumping music inside, the fog made by their warm breath, and especially the knowing smirks and stares of the people surrounding them. After she thought about it some more she realized that they probably looked like a couple, and strangely, that thought didn't bother her in the slightest. Why would it?

He made her laugh. He made her angry. He made her sad. He made her happy. He made her feel more than she ever had until she met him.

And that was it. In that moment, she realized it. That feeling that'd been there since their first conversation in the hospital, and the feeling that she thought was impossible for someone like her to have.

She maybe, kind of, _sort of_, loved him.

She hadn't thought much about love since she was a child and drooling over Misumi, but she always thought she'd realize it in this huge romantic moment where the guy would hand her flowers and chocolates and then whisk her away on a white stallion––not while he was holding her in front of a noisy club.

Her legs felt weaker beneath her, and suddenly she found herself leaning more heavily on Naruto just to hold herself up. Temari's words from the week before echoed in her head, telling her what to do even though she'd made up her mind the second she came to terms with feelings.

She turned around in his arms until she was facing him, tilting her head back to look up at him. She was sure her face was the color of a tomato, but it didn't matter. Not right now. "Naruto."

Naruto curiously cocked his head, eyes bright even in the darkness. "Yeah?"

Tayuya leaned up on her toes, grabbed the front of his shirt, and pressed her lips against his. She kissed him for a full ten seconds, closing her eyes so that she wouldn't have to see his expression just yet. She eventually broke away and stood back, smiling awkwardly at his wide eyes and slightly open mouth.

"Happy birthday."

**AN: I don't know why, but I've always thought of Kankurou as somewhat of a fistpumping bro. That guy you know is kind of an asshole but he's so fun and (mostly) friendly that you can't really hate him too much. Also props to Iathan Rellan; I almost died at 'Kankubro.' I just. I can't.**

**So there it is, finally. Now here's the tough part. I'm going to do whatever I feel fits the story, but your opinion will help me decide how hardcore things get. Should I just bump the story up to M or keep things PG-13? If you're worried about how well I can write citrus, I've gotten better since Illegitimate Love. Really. I went to college and learned stuff and everything. I also have no problems glossing over that stuff if everyone's going to be all wimpy about it. :P  
**


	36. Chapter 36

**The Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 36**

Tayuya smiled softly to herself as she spooned some soup into her bowl. She didn't know why, but she'd gotten up extra early to make breakfast. It'd taken her the better part of an hour to whip everything up, though most of the time she wasn't really all there. Instead, she'd found her mind constantly drifting to the night before where she'd either fucked up or strengthened her relationship with Naruto.

She'd kissed him. Uzumaki Naruto. She'd grabbed him by the shirt and slammed her lips against his without even asking his permission. God, he was probably repulsed by her now. Or maybe he'd liked it. Perhaps he didn't even know how to feel about it, since she sure as hell didn't. Fuck, what if he still loved Sakura and was upset with her? She angrily slammed the spoon back into the pot as she found her mind once again spiraling downwards. Oh, right, that's why she'd gotten up early and made enough food to feed ten people.

Of course, she'd done all of this after staring at Naruto's sleeping face for a good five minutes. Not intentionally, but it was hard not to wake up in the same bed with someone and not spend some time wondering how you got there after the life altering event they'd just shared. She'd been still wearing her blue dress–that had ridden up until it just above mid thigh–and he was only wearing his pants. Apparently, he'd thrown his shirt off at some point during the night. Either that or they'd had a drunken make out session, which wouldn't have made much sense given that neither of them had been drunk and she'd definitely remember something like that.

Even if the chances that that had happened were slim, the thought still brought a tiny smile to her face. She sat down at the small table in the kitchen and began to eat, eyes lighting up at how good it tasted. For someone who'd just started cooking a couple of years ago, she was amazing at it. She never thought she'd ever cook for anyone else let alone herself, but here she was. Maybe Naruto would see that as a selling point and could overlook the fact that she was occasionally rude and a little violent.

"You're in a good mood," Anko mumbled, tired and bleary eyed as she shuffled into the kitchen.

Tayuya glanced up from her soup, eyebrows arching slightly. "Huh? No I'm not."

The jounin shot her a deadpan frown. "You were just humming. You don't hum."

The redhead averted her gaze, feeling a little uncomfortable under Anko's scrutinizing gaze. She actually hadn't even noticed she was doing it. "I hum sometimes."

"I've spent almost every day with you for the past two and a half years. _You don't hum._ Something good happen last night?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows as she suggestively picked up a banana from the fruit bowl.

Luckily, Naruto walked into the kitchen, saving her from more invasive questions. His face flushed as soon as his eyes landed on his teammate's, and it was all he could do not to look away. "Hey, Tayuya-chan," he mumbled, unable to stop the slight waver in his voice as he spoke.

Tayuya felt her heart jump into her throat at his voice. It was the first thing he'd said to her since she'd kissed him, and she found that she couldn't even begin to read his expression. Was he upset? Happy? What the hell was he thinking in that big, stupid blond head of his? "Hey yourself." She was oddly proud of how strongly her voice had come out considering how unsure she felt at the moment.

Anko looked from Naruto, to Tayuya, and back again. They both had an equally sheepish look on their faces, and it was then that the woman realized what was up. "No," she gasped, the banana that had been in her hand falling onto the countertop. "You know what? I'm out of here. I'm too tired to even begin to deal with this."

He waited a minute or so after Anko walked out of the kitchen before speaking. "So," Naruto started, digging his fingernails into the orange he'd grabbed from the fruit bowl. He didn't really know how to ask, but he had to know.

Right after they'd kissed, a drunk Kankurou had stumbled out of the club with Temari, Gaara, and two other girls in tow. He'd been too busy trying to keep Kankurou from falling over himself to really ask Tayuya why she'd kissed him, and she'd been too busy trying to keep one of the girls' hands off of Naruto (the same girl who'd tried dry humping him earlier) to ask how he felt about it. In the end, they'd fallen into bed exhausted without saying another word to each other. At least that's how he remembered the rest of the night going.

"So," he started again, taking a deep breath, "Why'd you kiss me?"

Tayuya shrugged her shoulders. She had to admit that she was a little put off by his straightforwardness. She expected a lot more hemming and hawwing before he got around to asking her. "I dunno. Felt like it."

"Oh." He nervously tossed the orange from hand to hand. "So, like, what did you mean by it?"

She shrugged again, still not quite meeting his eyes. "What do _you_ want it to mean?"

"I dunno." He raised his head to look at her, taking a deep breath. "Look, Tayuya-chan, I..." He saw her face crumble slightly even though she tried to hide it. He knew he should come clean about everything before things got too serious, but he couldn't bear to see her upset. Not after they'd just reconciled.

"Hey, what smells good?" Kankurou yawned, scratching his bare stomach as he stumbled into the kitchen. Luckily his eyes were still closed, so he missed Naruto suddenly dropping his orange and Tayuya picking up her spoon and becoming a little too interested in her food.

"O-oh, uh, Tayuya-chan made breakfast," Naruto stuttered, neck turning a light red.

"Really? Sweet!" He poured himself a bowl of her soup and took a sip, nodding appreciatively at the taste. "So, dude, those girls I took home? Fucking crazy! I could barely feel my legs when I woke up this morning, and then we did it _again!_ I'd offer you a piece of them, but I already kicked them out." He took another long swallow from his bowl and sighed. "So, are we training or what? You might actually win today with me being exhausted and all."

Naruto glanced over at Tayuya to see that she was quite content to just slowly sip her miso soup and not look at him, so he grinned and nodded. "Yup! Just let me get dressed." He turned on his heel and exited the kitchen, shooting one last, helpless glance at his teammate.

As soon as the blond was out of sight, Kankurou turned his eyes on the redhead. "What about you? You training with Temari?" His eyebrows furrowed slightly as he noticed the pink hue of her skin. "What's with your face? You sick from last night?"

Tayuya shook her head a little too quickly. "No, I just uh. This heat. You know."

The jounin nodded in understanding. "Yeah, it takes awhile to get used to. Try sucking on ice cubes––it helps."

"Thanks. I'll do that."

Kankurou raised his eyebrows. "I don't know you very well, but you don't seem like the thanking type. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Would you just fuck off already?!"

"There's the Tayuya I think I sorta know and love!" Her glare deepened, so he wisely took his bowl of soup and left the kitchen, leaving the girl alone to her own thoughts.

––––––

Tayuya read over the scroll for what felt like the millionth time that day. It was late afternoon, and she'd been trying since morning to get the stupid technique down. The most annoying part was that it really wasn't that hard. All she was doing was making a fucking mountain, which really should have been cake for her. Her chakra reserves were plenty large enough to do it, and she'd performed similar techniques dozens of times over the years.

Hell, she had almost as much chakra as she did while using the stage 1 cursed seal. It had initially bothered her that she'd become so powerful shortly after receiving the Sozo Saisei, but after a few months, she'd learned to accept it. And why shouldn't she? Just because Orochimaru's power boost came with a shitload of drawbacks didn't mean the Sozo Saisei did, too. Besides the whole 'dying a few years earlier' thing (which really didn't matter considering her profession had such a high mortality rate to begin with), she hadn't noticed any other adverse effects.

Tayuya shook her head, realizing that she was getting lost in her thoughts again instead of focusing on her technique. At least she wasn't thinking about Naruto and that stupid kiss this time. She ran through the seals at a slower pace to make sure that she was doing them right and slammed her hands into the ground. "Ninpou: Earth jutsu!" Instead of the mountain she was expecting, a pathetic handful of dirt sprung up from the ground. Frustrated, she slammed her fist into the tiny mound of sand and swore loudly.

A shadow passed over her a few seconds later, and she could immediately tell by the shadow's four ponytails who it was. "I'm pretty sure that's not how you perform that jutsu," a light, amused voice said from behind her.

Tayuya rolled her eyes. "Golly gee whizzers, that's sure nice of you to point out. Oh, hey, did you also notice that I was flipping you off?"

"Your mind's not clear. You're thinking too hard about something else and not molding your chakra correctly," Temari said, sitting down next to her and squinting at the scroll.

"Yeah? What tipped you off?" she grumbled.

Temari sighed. She knew that Tayuya was trying to goad her into a fight to shift the attention off of herself, but it wasn't going to work this time. "So, you gonna tell me what's up with you and Naruto?"

The way Tayuya winced confirmed Temari's suspicion that she was trying to distract her. "There's nothing up with us."

The blonde leveled her with a deadpan stare. "I just finished watching Kankurou kick Naruto's ass around the training grounds with a _puppet_ for the past hour. There's obviously something going on."

Tayuya huffed. Temari was really starting to annoy her, and it wasn't like her to dance around an issue anyway, so she decided to just say it. "I kissed him."

"What kind of kiss? How long? Any tongue? Did he grab your ass?" the blonde asked, eyes shining as she leaned forward.

The genin sat back, uncomfortable with both the questions and the raping of her personal space. "I don't know, a regular kiss! It doesn't matter since he hasn't even said if he liked it or not."

Temari was quiet for a good few minutes, face screwing up in thought. Every now and then she'd tilt her head to one side, and subconciously, Tayuya found herself mirroring the blonde's actions.

After awhile, Tayuya couldn't take it anymore. "What?!"

"I was trying to decide who should make the first move."

"What are you talking about? I already did."

"No, I mean..." she lifted her hands, made a hole with one of them, and pushed the pointer finger of her other hand into it.

Tayuya's face instantly flushed, and her mouth dropped open in horror. "Gross!"

Temari smirked. "Is it?"

The redhead jumped to her feet, apparently tired of talking. "I'm gonna shower your skeeziness off. I don't know why I even bothered telling you."

Laughing, Temari grabbed Tayuya's wrist. "Hold on a second, will you?"

"What?"

It took her a couple of seconds, but she was eventually able to slow her laughing into a slight giggle. "Look, in all seriousness, you should probably play it cool for awhile. You don't want to scare Naruto away by demanding he give you an answer or pressure him into a relationship he doesn't want."

"I don't want a relationship either!" she exclaimed, not quite believing her own words. "But do you want me to just act like it never happened? There's no way that'll work."

"I'm not saying you can't talk about it, but if he doesn't bring it up, you shouldn't either. Give the guy some time to figure it all out, you know?"

Tayuya slowly nodded her head, finding Temari's advice to make a surprising amount of sense. She herself couldn't make heads or tails of the situation, so Naruto would definitely be lost. "I guess. Thanks."

"No problem. Although I give it a week before you two are..." she once again shoved the pointer finger of her right hand into her left, trying not to laugh at the disgusted look on Tayuya's face.

"That's it, I'm fucking out of here."

"You can't deny it forever!" she called as Tayuya stalked away. Once she was far enough away to not be seen, Temari grinned. The next couple of months were going to be fun.

Lying in bed, Naruto stared up at at the ceiling of the bedroom. Technically, he wasn't supposed to be here. Technically, Tayuya still hated him and had never given him permission to come crawling back to their bed. Somehow, though, he didn't think she'd mind too much.

He nervously licked his lips and glanced towards the open doorway for the tenth time in as many as minutes. Any minute now, Tayuya would come walking in, freshly showered and ready for bed. Her long red hair would still be fairly moist and limp since she hated drying it, and she'd smell like fresh strawberries with a hint of grass mixed in. It was an odd combination now that he thought about it, but it was one he wouldn't change for the world.

The soft padding of bare feet on hardwood immediately drew his attention, and he quickly sat up in case Tayuya actually did try to attack him.

"Oh, you're in here," Tayuya said, pausing slightly in surprise before continuing to walk into the room.

Naruto shrugged and smiled weakly, relieved that she didn't seem upset by his presence. "I figured this would be the best time to catch you. I wanted to talk." Her face dropped into a slight frown, causing his to do the same. Well, that wasn't a good sign.

"What did you want to talk about?" she asked, standing unsurely at the foot of the bed. She ignored Naruto's incredulous stare in favor of looking down at her quickly chipping toenail polish. It had been Temari's idea to paint them, and just like she figured, the junk hadn't even lasted a full day. It was impossible for it to stay on since they trained everyday and wore open toed sandals most of the time.

"The kiss," Naruto said exasperatedly, unable to believe that she was going to try to sweep the whole thing under the rug.

Tayuya winced. "Oh. Yeah." She bit the inside of her lip and looked around the room, refusing to meet his gaze. "Sorry."

The silence between them was deafening. Both were at a loss for what to say but for very different reasons. Finally Naruto was able to find his voice again, though just barely. "Sorry?" he practically whispered. "I thought you...I don't know, liked me back," he mumbled.

At this, the redhead snapped her head up to look at him. Her heart hammered against her ribcage, and her body suddenly felt warm all over. "Liked you _back_? Wait, do you like me?" Asking him the question made her feel like a little girl with her first crush, but she didn't care. Not right now.

Naruto's face was flushed, and now it was he who couldn't meet her eyes. "Well, yeah, I guess. I dunno."

A slight pressure on the bed made him glance up, and he was surprised to see that she was now sitting on the bed facing him. The way her light brown eyes stared intently into his was a little intimidating if he was being honest with himself, and he could practically see the eagerness in her eyes. "Do you or don't you? Spit it out!"

Now full on blushing, he sighed angrily and shrugged. "I do, okay?! I-"

He never got to finish his sentence as Tayuya had sprung forward and kissed him, shoving her lips forcefully against his. He just barely remembered to kiss her back this time, and his arms instinctively wrapped themselves around her waist.

She crawled forward another few inches and forced him back against the headboard, wanting to get as much of his lips as possible even though there was nothing more to take. She felt her head pound with excitement-or maybe it was her heart-and the only thing keeping her from moving even closer to him was the feeling of his hands pushing her back by the shoulders.

They panted roughly, staring at each other with a mix of confusion and disappointment. She still felt too lightheaded from the kiss to form a complete sentence, so she uttered the only word she could grasp. "Why?"

Naruto seemed to be similarly out of sorts as he took a few seconds to speak. "Why did you say sorry for kissing me?"

Tayuya sat back on her haunches, looking distinctly uncomfortable. Her mind was suddenly a lot clearer, almost as if it'd sobered up after a long night of drinking. "Well, you were the first guy I ever kissed, and I didn't really ask if it was okay with you. I thought you might be mad."

A dark look flashed across his face, but it disappeared almost as soon as it came. "I'm not the first guy you kissed. You kissed Musashi, remember?" he mumbled, unable to stop the bitterness from creeping into his voice. He instantly knew he'd said the wrong thing when he saw her furious expression. Gone was the beautiful, slightly shy Tayuya he'd just been kissing. She was back to her normal, angry self again.

"Let's get one fucking thing straight," she spat, grabbing his chin tightly in her hand. "Musashi kissed _me._ Alright?"

He wanted to argue that that was a technicality, but at the same time, he realized that he was being stupid. It was just...the thought that someone else had tasted her lips before him rubbed him the wrong way. He felt horribly selfish, but he wanted to keep Tayuya to himself now that he had her. He never wanted her to even _touch_ another guy, let alone kiss them.

Naruto blinked at this train of thought, realizing how ridiculous he was being. He was acting creepy and possessive when they hadn't even agreed on anything. "Sorry," he mumbled, only half meaning it.

Her anger immediately dissipated, and he was relieved when she smiled again. "Whatever, doesn't matter." She leaned forward and pecked him on the lips, finding the simple action addictive. Each time she did it, a slight tingle ran from her lips to her toes, and before she knew it, she was moving in for another.

Tayuya squeaked slightly when Naruto flipped them around and lie her on her back, apparently growing tired of her setting the pace. She barely had time to reorient herself before he was kissing her again, this time slowly and softly. She couldn't decide whether to keep her eyes open or closed and her arms lie awkwardly at her sides, but all of that changed when she felt his hand tightly grip her hip. A groan slipped out of her throat, and almost against her will, her hips pressed up into his.

She was only wearing a tank top and a pair of shorts, having decided to forego underwear since she frankly found them uncomfortable to sleep in. If she'd known that this was going to happen, she might have reconsidered. When his chest accidentally brushed against her quickly hardening nipples, she gasped and broke the kiss, only to have him find her lips again a second later. Their kissing wasn't as clumsy as she thought it'd be, and surprisingly enough, it was actually getting better. Much better.

His hands were beginning to roam a bit, rubbing her sides and stomach in slow, lazy strokes. He was being careful not to get too close to any of her more private areas, which was something she both appreciated and loathed. Half of her wanted him to just rip her clothes off so that they could really start having fun, but the other half was glad that he wanted to take things slow. It made her feel like he truly respected her, even if she didn't necessarily want him to.

As he hovered above Tayuya, Naruto's mind began to race. What about Sakura-chan? A voice that sounded distinctly like the Kyuubi's retorted **'What about her?'** and even though he was loathe to admit it, he had to admit that 'the voice' had a point. Tayuya was just as beautiful, smart, nice (when she wanted to be) and probably twice as sexy as Sakura-especially considering that the girl beneath him was at least a full cup size larger.

His eyebrows furrowed slightly at the thought of her being sexy. If he was being honest with himself, he'd always been sort of attracted to her. Even when she wasn't walking around in skimpy night clothes, everything about her commanded his attention. Her strength, her laugh, the cute way her nose crinkled when she scowled...

In fact, her attractiveness was the reason he'd nearly ruined one of his best shirts the night before. After waking up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, he'd returned to their bed to see that Tayuya's dress had ridden up well above her waist, fully exposing the simple, black boyshorts she'd been wearing underneath. His nose had immediately begun to drip blood as it all rushed to his head, and it'd taken the better part of ten minutes to wash most of the stain out.

Being the gentleman he was, he'd pulled her dress down upon returning to bed in what had to be the scariest thirty seconds of his life. He couldn't imagine how he'd explain himself if she'd woken up while he was straightening her clothes.

He wasn't sure how long they made out for, but at some point, their kissing had begun to slow until they were just staring at each other. When she broke out into a wide smile that reached her eyes, Every coherent thought was instantly wiped from his mind. It was the first inkling he felt that he might actually be in love with her. He fully realized that it was probably a mixture of his hormones and the feel of her burning skin against his, but it was more than that. It had to be.

"Had enough of me already?" she asked, raising an eyebrow in silent challenge.

Naruto grinned down at her. "Never."

Satisfied by his answer, Tayuya leaned up on her elbows to place another kiss on his lips, closing her eyes to fully savor the contact. Never in a million years did she ever think this would happen. For years she was certain that she didn't even have a libido, but the butterflies flapping around in her stomach and her heartbeat going two hundred miles per hour told her otherwise.

When she reluctantly broke the kiss he expected her to move to her side of the bed, but she instead simply rolled over and pulled his arm around her. He caught the hint and moved closer to her body, spooning her from behind–which was a bit awkward since he hadn't fully calmed down yet. She didn't seem to mind, though, so he tightened his grip on her midsection and nuzzled his face into her hair before falling fast asleep.

**AN: This is one of the hardest chapters I've ever had to write of any fic, holy fucking shit. Trying to convey that awkwardness and clumsiness and overthinking that comes with a new relationship-while keeping their base personalities-felt impossible. I had to throw out two versions before this one, and I'm still very 'eh' about it. I don't like the way it flows, either, because I stole parts from the previous two versions and slapped them together into this one. It's a little shorter than I like, but I just had to finish this and not let it slow me down anymore. It's been MONTHS.**

**Thanks for all of your opinions! I'm still a bit unsure, but right now I'm thinking raise it to M to accomodate some citrus and post the more hardcore stuff to /in a separate story(?). I mean, I'm not planning on writing a sex scene every chapter or anything.**


	37. Chapter 37

**The Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 37**

Sunlight streamed through the window, gently signaling the start of another beautiful day. Or it would've been had the sun decided to not be an asshole and hit Naruto square in the face with a beam of light. Groaning slightly, Naruto tried to duck his head under his arm to hide from the sun––only to get a face full of something soft and sweet smelling. He sputtered noisily and opened his eyes to see what the hell the stringy stuff in his mouth was.

His eyes landed on Tayuya–who was curled up against him–and he felt himself smile. Memories of the night before flooded his mind, and for a few seconds, he wasn't sure if he'd dreamed the whole thing or not. But then he saw the small hickey he'd left on her collarbone the night before and felt reasonably sure that he had, indeed, made out with Tayuya.

He reached a hand over to brush her hair out of her face, marveling at how gorgeous she was. He'd always sort of noticed, but now that they were somewhat together, it was like he was seeing her for the first time. Her skin was nearly flawless except for a couple of pimples and scratches, her hair was rich and full, and her light pink lips were curved into the slightest smile. The thing that endeared him to her the most was that, even though she'd changed in dozens of ways since that night he'd woken up to her sleeping on his arm in the hospital all those years ago, she was still a drooler.

He sighed and leaned over her, unable to resist placing a kiss on the corner of her mouth that wasn't leaking spit. She didn't stir, so he placed another one lower on her jaw and then another near her neck where he'd left his hickey. Her eyelids fluttered open after the last kiss and she yawned, rolling over to face him. She stared at him confusedly for a few seconds before smiling, eyes lighting up as she too seemed to remember what had happened.

"Morning," she mumbled, wiping the spit away from her cheek. She was a little embarrassed, but he didn't seem to mind neither that nor her slight morning breath as he shifted forward and pecked her directly on the lips.

"Morning."

She yawned again and stretched her limbs out, wincing at the loud popping emanating from her joints. "So...I guess last night wasn't a dream?"

Naruto laughed a little, amused that she'd thought the same exact thing he had. "If it was, it was the best one I've ever had." She smiled that bright smile of hers again, and he had to lean in for another quick kiss––only this time, she wrapped her arms around his neck so that he couldn't move away.

No matter how much she kissed him, she still couldn't believe that any of this was happening. Three years ago she thought she'd die alone under a pile of trees, and now she was ferociously making out with a genin from the 'weak' Village of Konoha. Even though she was enjoying her current position old habits died hard, so she broke the kiss long enough to turn him over so that she was on top and in control.

She took a moment just to stare at him. This was hers. He was hers. She could do whatever she wanted now without feeling creepy or gross. She could play with his hair as much as she wanted, stare into his eyes, watch him sleep...okay, that last one was still pretty creepy, but less so if they were together.

"What?" he asked, a small grin on his face.

She ran her hands over the wiry muscles of his arms and up to his face, pinching his cheeks between her fingers. "You're cute."

"You're cuter," Naruto replied, reaching his hands up to do the same to her.

Tayuya groaned and rolled her eyes. "I can't believe we just did that."

"Me either," he laughed. "How did this happen?"

"I wish I knew. You have no idea how much I'm freaking the fuck out right now."

Despite saying that, she grabbed his arms and pushed them over his head, wishing that she'd made him lose his shirt the night before. She knew that realistically he was probably stronger than her, but she just liked the idea of owning and being in control of him as terrible it sounded. She nervously bit her lip, not really sure what to do next. Her experience was pretty much nil, and except for one of Anko's racy books that she'd read out of boredom a year ago, she didn't have anything to even work off of.

"Don't bite your lip," Naruto mumbled, looking away from her.

Tayuya furrowed her eyebrows. "Why not?" She then noticed his grimace and smirked. "Does it turn you on when I do that?"

"No," he lied unconvincingly.

She slowly bit her bottom lip again and he closed his eyes, a pained expression flashing across his face. "Holy shit, you're kidding me. That really does it for you?"

"Because you're doing it, yeah."

Tayuya felt her mouth drop open slightly. If she didn't know him as well as she did, she'd swear he was just saying these things to get into her panties. And if he was just trying to get into her panties, well, it was definitely working.

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking up at her in that adorably confused way of his.

Still gripping his face, she pulled his face to hers and kissed him, a little surprised at how bold she was being. She was running solely on her instincts, because if she stopped long enough to think about it, she might throw up all over him.

She and Naruto were sort of, kind of, together.

That short, annoying, loud mouthed, weak idiot from the supposed weakest and stupidest village in the shinobi world was lying beneath her. She was kissing him. Naruto. Her whole world felt backwards, and it'd take some time for her to think of this as normal. Not that it was unpleasant. It was fucking great, actually. It just felt...weird.

Naruto sat up and grabbed her around the waist, lifting her up along with him. His hands slipped under the hem of her shirt and rubbed the soft skin of her lower back, and it was all he could do to keep them from going any higher.

She moved her hands from his face and wrapped her arms around his neck, once again pulling him closer. Their teeth accidentally knocked against each other's, and they simultaneously held their fingers against them to stem the pain.

"Ouch," Naruto said, laughing as he rubbed his mouth.

"Sorry." She kissed his top lip as penance, leaning back and smiling sheepishly at him.

"It's okay." He leaned forward––gently, since banging against her teeth had hurt quite a bit––and captured her lips in another kiss. They continued to languidly make out, their breath coming in short, rough pants. Maybe it was because they were shinobi and knew their time was short, or maybe it was just because this was a long time coming, but they couldn't get enough of each other. Tayuya pressed her chest against his until she was flush against him. She could feel him poking her thigh through her thin shorts, but she barely noticed. At least not until she felt his hands on her stomach, lightly pushing her back.

"Wait," he said, breaking their kiss.

Her eyes took a few seconds to adjust, but she was eventually able to look at him. "What?"

"We need to talk about this."

Tayuya's mouth formed a thin line, and she leaned back a little further to glare straight at him. "Okay. Talk."

He could hear some hostility slipping into her tone and realized that she was automatically assuming the worst. It kind of stung that she thought so little of him and was expecting him to hurt her, but he brushed it off. This was new for the both of them, so of course she'd be wary. "Are we gonna tell anyone about this? About us being like...you know."

She visibly relaxed at his question, and he had to wonder what she thought he was going to say before. "Oh." Tayuya cocked her head, screwing up her face in thought. "Maybe we shouldn't. People will just bug us about it."

"I was thinking the same thing. We should wait until this trip is over."

"Yeah, that might be best. The less drama the better––at least until we get back to the village. Then, I want everyone to know that they'd better keep their skanky paws off of you." She started to lean forward to kiss him when he stopped her by speaking again.

"Tayuya––"

"Yeah?" she answered a little too quickly, slightly miffed that her lips weren't pressed against his. "I mean, go ahead."

"I, uh. I'm...really happy right now."

Tayuya felt her entire body blush. It was like he knew exactly what to say to make her insides turn to mush. He'd found her heart underneath all of the bullshit and was doing everything he could to make sure that he kept it forever. The worst–or best–part was that it was working if the full, toothy grin on her face was to be believed. "Me too."

* * *

Spinning lithely on her toes, the girl used her chakra to keep herself standing on the water. Long, fluid strands of liquid of surrounded her, and she expertly manipulated them into nine whip-like tentacles. Despite how beautiful they looked as they lashed and swirled around her, the tendrils weren't just for show. Anyone who got within ten feet of her would receive at best a large gash and at worst would lose a limb.

She'd done this nearly every night for the past three years, honing her chakra control and building dozens of new techniques in an effort to get stronger. She was tired of being weak. She was tired of always being overlooked. She was tired of being herself. With a final exhalation of breath as she released the technique, Hyuuga Hinata deactivated her Byakugan.

She stared at her reflection in the now still water, smiling at how much she'd changed in nearly three years. She'd let her dark blue violet hair grow to the middle of her back, her breasts had jumped nearly two cups in size, and she had more confidence than ever; especially with guys staring and consistently asking her out on her dates. She'd accepted nearly all of them, reasoning that they would make good practice for when Naruto returned (and plus it was fun to get free food), but she never went on a second date. She'd learned the hard way that guys' expectations increased with each subsequent date, and he'd learned the hard way that you never tried to force yourself upon a Hyuuga.

Exhaling again, she allowed herself to fall backwards into the water, using chakra to cushion her descent so that she simply floated onto her back. Her large, pale eyes stared up at the moon, and she found that she was unable to stop a wide smile from breaking out on her face. She couldn't believe it was almost time for him to come home. Everything would've fallen into place––If only if it weren't for her.

That hideous, conniving, redheaded bitch who was on the training trip with him. She wasn't so naive as to believe that she hadn't tried to dig her claws into her Naruto-kun, and knowing how lonely he was, he'd probably succumbed. One of her deepest regrets was not making her feelings known before he left.

Hinata clasped her hands over her chest, wincing at the dull aching coming from her heart. Even after all this time she couldn't stop thinking about him. The way he smiled, the way he laughed, and the way he always made her feel good about herself without even trying. It was no wonder the slut was all over him. But she didn't care for him like Hinata did. She didn't know him or what he'd been through, so she had confidence that she'd be able to win him back.

Of course, she wasn't delusional. She knew her father wouldn't stand for her dating someone who wasn't royalty––and the village pariah, no less. That's why she was consistently squirreling away money into her own separate bank account. Even if her father disowned her and kicked her out of the house, she'd be fine. Between her nest egg and the B-ranked missions she went on, she'd be able to afford a decent living until she and Naruto were married. If they moved in together, even better.

A shy, elated smile appeared on her face at the thought of starting her life with him. She wanted a minimum of two kids, but with how often she estimated they'd have sex and the failure rate of current contraceptives, that number could easily pass five.

Hinata shook her head and removed her hand from her breast, shaking the dirty thoughts from her mind. Lately, her imagination had been growing out of control. Besides, she was getting too far ahead of herself. He wasn't even back in town yet!

After swimming to shore and pulling on her clothes, she took one last glance at herself in the still water and smiled.

When Naruto got back, he wouldn't know what hit him.

* * *

A slight shudder went up Naruto's spine, forcing him to gasp and break his kiss. It was a weird feeling––almost as if someone was plotting something evil about him. Which wouldn't be that farfetched considering how many enemies he had.

"What's up?" Tayuya asked, furrowing her eyebrows as she looked up at him. Or at least she tried to. It was dark in the second floor hall closet where they were currently making out.

Naruto shook his head, not wanting to worry her over a stupid feeling that probably meant nothing. "Do you ever feel like all we do is make out nowadays? I mean, I love doing this, but I really miss just talking to you as your friend."

She smirked and rolled her eyes. "Don't be such a bitch. We're talking right now, aren't we?"

"A bitch, huh?" He flipped them around so that he was the one pushing her against the wall, eliciting an uncharacteristically girly squeal from her throat that was becoming more and more common. "I didn't know you were into women."

"Of course I am. I'm into you, right?" she teased, a challenging look in her eyes.

"Oh, now you've done it." He attached his lips to the one spot he knew would wipe the smirk right off of her face and was instantly rewarded when she leaned her full weight against him. She moaned loudly into his ear and he couldn't stop himself from smiling.

The first time he'd decided to try her grandmother's advice about their family's 'weak spot', Tayuya had screamed. Loudly. He'd barely had enough time to separate himself before the entire house had stormed into their room, weapons raised and ready to fight. Luckily they'd been able to explain it away as a nightmare from her time with Orochimaru, and since Anko occasionally had similar dreams, no one had really questioned it. From that night on, though, he always made sure to work his way up to that spot so she wouldn't be too surprised.

"Not bad, toots. Keep that up and I might let you make me a sandwich," she panted, hanging onto him for dear life.

Naruto laughed, blowing warm air on her neck. Even when she could barely stand she had something smartass to say. He loved that about her––how he never knew what she would say or do next. Occasionally that was bad for him, but most of the time, it was what he looked forward to day in and day out.

"Oi! Naruto! I'm leaving!" A loud voice called from somewhere in the house.

"Shit, is it ten already?" Tayuya mumbled, pulling down her shirt and straightening it as best she could in the dark.

"I'll go first." Naruto leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek before slipping out of the closet and jogging down the stairs to meet Kankurou.

After he left, Tayuya pressed her ear against the door. She was waiting to hear the sound of the front door slamming so she'd know when it was safe to leave without being seen by them since it'd be a little suspicious if they both suddenly appeared from the same direction looking breathless and disheveled.

While she waited, she for the millionth time pondered how strange her life was now. To go from years of feeling angry all the time to nothing but happiness...to be honest, it frightened her. Her anger was a huge part of who she was. It was what had kept her alive up until this point, and it was what gave her the strength to keep living when she felt like ending it all.

Between reconciling the bullshit with her grandmother and finding someone who seemed to think she was the best thing to ever walk the Earth, well, she just didn't have much to be angry about. Her hatred for children and furry animals felt more like a dull loathing now, and the minor annoyances like chirping birds or bright sunshine didn't even register to her anymore. She still wanted to run a sword up Orochimaru's ass, but that was more of an obligation than anything.

Pretending to be angry when she wasn't was a problem she never thought she'd have. It was a chore just to keep up the act for the sake of everyone else, and it was a wonder no one had caught on yet. The worst part was...she didn't mind it at all. She actually liked being happy, even if it changed her. Even the little things like handholding and staring into each others' eyes that she used to find disgusting were suddenly her favorite things to do even though they couldn't do them very often.

On the downside, she found that she had a rather intense jealous streak. If another girl so much as stared at Naruto she'd make a point to show that she owned him by either kissing him or grabbing his arm. She'd always been sort of possessive of his attention since she was his best friend, but now that they were unofficially dating, well, she wasn't sure what she'd do if any of them actually tried to touch him.

While she was lost in her thoughts she didn't feel the door begin to open, and it wasn't long before she was sent tumbling to the ground outside.

"...What are you doing?" Temari asked, staring down at Tayuya with honest surprise.

Embarrassed that she'd been caught, the redhead got up and brushed herself off, doing everything she could not to meet the blonde's curious gaze. "None of your business."

Unperturbed, Temari took in her appearance. Her eyes scanned her messy hair, her flushed cheeks, her bruised lips, her lightly heaving chest, and a second later, her eyes widened. "You and Naruto were just making out in here, weren't you?!"

Tayuya's first reaction was to run. She knew Temari was perceptive, but fuck, she'd hit the nail right on the head on the first try. They'd been so careful to keep their activities under wraps, so the fact that she'd even gotten close frightened her. Who else was starting to figure it out? Acting on instinct, she screwed her face up into disgust, hoping it was convincing enough to throw Temari off. "No! Gross!"

But it was too late. A huge, knowing smile had already broken out on the jounin's face. "It makes sense now! I just saw Naruto come running around this corner looking all pleased with himself, and now here you are with the same exact look on your face. Don't deny it!"

Tayuya desperately moved in front of Temari and forced her to look her in the eyes. "But you're wrong! We aren't like that!"

"Yeah?" Temari lunged forward before Tayuya could react and grabbed her by the shoulders. She moved her long, red hair out of the way, pulled down the neck of her shirt, and Tayuya instantly knew that it was over. "Holy––Naruto's been busy."

She was sweating, she was blushing, and she felt sick. The worst part was that she didn't know why she was even embarrassed. Maybe because she hadn't been prepared to suddenly tell anyone, or maybe it was because she knew that there were a minimum of five hickeys in her collarbone area alone. He really seemed to like marking his territory.

"How long?"

Now that the jig was up, she saw no point in lying. Besides, Temari usually had good advice and she could use a confidant. Shoulders sagging, she hung her head and sighed. "A month."

The jounin's mouth dropped open. "A month? You two have been making out and Kami knows what else for a whole month without me noticing?"

Nervously glancing around the hallway just in case someone else was home, she leaned forward and scowled. "Keep it down! Fuck, just tell everybody why don't you!"

"I ought to! I'm the one who got you two together in the first place! Going to the club was my idea, and who gave you the advice to just let it happen naturally? And you just decided to not tell the most important person in this equation that all of their hard work paid off?"

"Why does it matter to you?" Tayuya asked, a little shocked by her strong reaction.

Temari looked at her as if she were stupid. "I thought we were friends. Friends tell friends when they're getting some," she said, speaking slowly as if talking to a toddler.

Ignoring the blonde's extremely condescending tone, she raised her eyebrows. "Friends? You and me?" she asked, pointing between the two of them.

"Well, yeah. Aren't we?"

Tayuya blinked. Sure, Naruto was her friend, and Anko was sort of her friend slash sister, but she and Temari were bitter enemies. She'd almost killed Temari's boyfriend, and in return, Temari had almost killed her. Them being friends after all that seemed impossible, but here they were. The strangest part is that she didn't hate her anymore. In fact, they actually had a lot in common. Blinking at this realization, she hesitantly answered her question. "I...guess?"

At that moment, a huge grin broke out on Temari's face. "So tell me everything. Friends don't keep secrets from friends."

The redhead scowled. She couldn't help but feel like she'd been led into a trap. At the same time, she was relieved. Even after four weeks of continuous encounters, she was still confused and a little bit freaked out about being with Naruto. It felt natural, but it didn't. She always felt like she was waiting for the other shoe to drop, like someone was just biding their time so that they could pull the rug out from under her as soon as she fully gave herself to him.

She took a deep breath and decided to say what had been bothering her ever since their relationship started before she lost her nerve. "I don't think I belong with Naruto." The words scared her, but strangely, saying them out loud made her feel a little better.

Temari blinked, obviously not expecting her to say that. "What?"

"It's not that I don't like being with him, it's just..." she shrugged her shoulders lamely. She didn't know how to explain feeling.

"You feel like it's too good to be true?"

"How did you know?"

Temari sighed and sat down on the floor, motioning for Tayuya to do the same. "It was like that with me and Shika. I've always been independent and a little jaded, so after awhile, I just didn't think the whole love thing was for me. I didn't really like most guys I came across, so when he kissed me...I got confused. I'd already given up on love but now all of a sudden I had it. It's completely normal in your first relationship, trust me. I've asked around."

"But what if it doesn't work out?"

"Then it doesn't work out. So what? You know that you're capable of being happy with someone now. You've had the experience, so you can either decide to be alone or find another guy even better than him."

Tayuya slowly nodded her head, chewing thoughtfully on the inside her bottom lip. "I guess that makes sense." Even though she said that, she couldn't imagine finding a guy better than Naruto. He was the only guy she'd met in her nearly seventeen years of life that was just so...genuine. She didn't want to say he was perfect––far from it––but she'd be hard pressed to find another shinobi like him (because there was no way in hell she'd settle down with a civilian).

All of a sudden a wave of realization passed over her, drenching her in self doubt. What was she doing with a guy like Naruto, anyway? She herself thought that he was amazing, and she, well…wasn't.

She felt the backs of her eyeballs sting, so she tightly clenched her teeth in an effort to stem the tears that were threatening to fall. The thought had crossed her mind before, but it was always fleeting. He'd smile or kiss her and she'd immediately forget that he was out of her league. But Temari had made her realize just how strange it was for them to be together.

She didn't have parents. She wasn't from the Fire Nation, and was in fact from the country of one of their worst enemies. She'd attacked their village, killed their shinobi, helped kidnap the last Uchiha, and just generally been a pain in the ass for Konoha for the last seven or so years. In her efforts to comfort her, Temari had inadvertently made things worse.

They were both quiet for a few minutes, each unsure of what to say next after such a heavy conversation. Finally, Temari turned to Tayuya with raised eyebrows and a curious smirk.

"So, have you fucked him yet?"

* * *

Since the Academy was relatively close to where they lived, Naruto and Kankurou were able to make it on time by simply jogging even though they were supposedly running late. As soon as they rounded the corner, Naruto was hit with an intense wave of deja vu.

The first thing Naruto noticed about the Academy building was that it looked eerily familiar. It took a few seconds, but he eventually realized that except for the materials used to build it it––sand and rock––it was the spitting image of Konoha's academy. Still in a mild state of shock, he followed Kankurou into the school where even the hallways and classrooms looked the same.

As soon as they walked into the room for six year old students, the children all gasped excitedly and jumped to their feet, eyes shining and smiles wide.

"It's Kankurou-sama!"

"Kankurou-nii-chan!"

"Over here, Kankurou-nii!"

"You're popular," Naruto joked, staring amusedly at the starstruck expression on the children's faces.

Kankurou rolled his eyes. "You think so? Watch this." He cleared his throat dramatically to quiet the kids down before speaking. "Everyone, say hello to Uzumaki Naruto-sensei."

If it were possible, the children's eyes opened even wider.

"You're the one who beat Kazekage-sama?!" One boy asked from the back of the classroom.

Suddenly embarrassed, Naruto regressed into his nervous habit of scratching at the back of his head. "It was a few years ago, but yeah, that was me."

The classroom burst into hushed, excited whispers. Finally, one short blonde girl had the courage to ask him another question. "Are you gonna be teaching us today?"

He grinned widely in response. "Sure am!" A few seconds passed before he realized that they were all waiting for him to, well, teach, so he clapped his hands together and motioned towards the window. "Everyone go to the training field and we'll get started."

As they filed (read: sprinted) out of the room, Naruto leaned over to talk to Kankurou. "Your academy is kind of similar to ours," he said, looking around at the classroom again.

"I guess, but trust me, it wasn't like this before. Until Gaara took over it was much, much harder to become a shinobi, but since we need the manpower, things are a lot more laid back. Like Konoha's Academy."

"Hey!"

Kankurou laughed and nudged his shoulder before walking towards the classroom door. "What? I didn't say that was a bad thing. The kids are definitely happier with this structure, and they're producing roughly the same results, so no one can complain."

They reached the outside training area to see all of the kids lined up and ready for whatever he had to say. The kids looked up at him expectantly, barely able to contain their excitement. To be honest, it was sort of intimidating.

Not counting Konohamaru he'd never actually taught anyone before, and especially not a group this big. He was a little nervous about letting them down, but at the same time, he was excited. He'd have an indirect hand in what kind of shinobi these kids would become. Sure, it was only for a few hours, but it was invaluable practice.

"Okay, uh, here's what we're going to do," trying to remember what he'd done when he himself was a student. " Kankurou and I are going to split you up into two groups. We'll be teaching you how to throw kunai today, and if you guys do well, we'll even teach you how to throw shrunken. First, though, I want three laps around the field to get you warmed up." Before the words were out of his mouth good the kids took off, racing each other to be the first one back.

Kankurou whistled as he watched them go, a genuinely surprised look on his face. "Whoa, I've never seen them so happy to run," he commented. "They're already on the third lap."

Just as he'd said, the kids finished their laps and lined up again, some of them doubled over as they struggled to catch their breath. Feeling a little sorry for them, Naruto gave them a few minutes before he began the lesson. "Alright, you ten are with me. The rest of you go with Kankurou."

Both he and Kankurou gave a quick demonstration on how to throw a kunai and basically told them to go nuts––with dulled kana, of course. There really wasn't much he could teach him about this. He'd learned firsthand that the key to getting good at anything was simply to practice. Sure, there was a certain technique to it throwing weapons, but most people picked it up subconsciously after ten or so throws.

A small frown appeared on his face as he noticed an awkward, brown-haired girl in his group who was sucking. Badly. Apparently she was the exception. None of her throws even grazed the target let alone hit the bullseye, and most of them wobbled pathetically before digging into the ground. He felt an odd connection to the girl as he watched her fail time and time again, and it wasn't until the other kids began to make fun of her that he realized it.

She reminded him of him.

Being careful to avoid the wild tosses of the students as he approached her, he knelt down next to the girl and smiled. "Hey, need some help?"

The little brunette looked over at him and frowned. "What do you want, old man?"

Naruto choked on his spit. Old man? He was barely 16! Was he this bratty when he was a kid? Quickly recomposing himself, he pasted on a thin smile. "What's your name?"

She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, gripping the dull kunai in her palm as she tried to decide if she should trust him or not. It seemed as if she saw something she liked, though, since she gradually relaxed her grip on the kunai and fully turned to face him. "Kiko."

"Well, Kiko, you're doing this wrong. Here, hold the kunai like this," he said, adjusting it so that the handle rested loosely between her thumb and pointer finger instead of in her palm like she'd had it. "Now, just let it fly with all your strength!"

Still staring at him dubiously, she tossed the weapon and it miraculously struck the spot she'd aimed for. "Whoa! I hit the bullseye!" the girl cheered, jumping up and down. "Those guys said I was hopeless, but look! I hit it!"

He ruffled her short hair and handed her another kunai. "Why don't you go show them what you learned?"

She smiled, nodded, and ran off to do what he'd said. He watched with a grin as she again hit the bullseye, earning gasps of amazement from her classmates whom immediately began asking her for tips.

He spent the next two hours instructing the kids on how to throw kunai and shuriken since they'd done so well, and by the time lunch rolled around, all of the kids had hit the bullseye at least twice. It filled him with a sense of pride that he'd never felt before, and he knew that when he became Hokage, he'd definitely be stopping by the Academy to teach ever now and then just like the Sandaime had done when he was a kid.

"Alright, awesome job everyone! You guys are gonna be great shinobi." The kids looked around at each other, obviously pleased with themselves and each other. "Class is over for the day––teacher's orders. Go home!"

His smile widened as, instead of immediately leaving, the kids returned to practicing their weapon throwing. It was a good half hour before they finally began to disperse, and since they'd stuck around, he'd stayed to continue giving pointers. It was the most fun he'd had in awhile––not counting making out with Tayuya, anyway.

"This what we're fighting to protect, isn't it?" He asked, watching them laugh, smile, and play as they left the Academy. "I think I understand how the adults feel now."

"Careful, bro, you're starting to sound like an adult yourself," Kankurou joked. "You did a good job today. Come on, I'll buy you lunch." When he saw Naruto's eyes light up, the jounin quickly modified his offer. "Not ramen."

* * *

Eight full hours later, Naruto finally returned to the house. Kankurou had indeed treated him to ramen, but only after dragging him around town for the first seven hours to 'run errands.' In other words drink, gamble, and hit on chicks. Initially it'd been fun hanging out with just a guy for a change, but he quickly learned that Kankurou's idea of fun was much different than his own. He was only relieved that Tayuya hadn't been around to see the girls hanging off of him.

He walked into his bedroom with a tired sigh, but his mood was significantly lifted when he saw Tayuya lounging lazily on their bed, clad in nothing but a t-shirt and a pair of short shorts as she flipped through one of her music books. There wasn't anything inordinately sexual about her clothing, but seeing them on her just…did something to him. It also helped that she was lying on her stomach so he got a great view of her ass. At least until she rolled over to frown at him.

"Why'd you get back so late?" Tayuya asked, a childish pout on her face.

It still sort of amused him how different she acted around him now that they were together. She wasn't at all afraid to show what she was feeling, sometimes even going out of her way to make sure that he understood when she was unhappy with him. A second later, Naruto's amusement dissipated. Well, that wasn't completely true.

Every now and then she'd get this sad look on her face when they fooled around, and even though he'd ask her what was wrong, she'd brush the question off and distract him with either a fierce kiss or an 'accidental' touch to his naughtier bits. It ashamed him to admit it, but both of those things were more than enough to make him forget what he had for breakfast, so it stood to reason that they could easily make him forget an expression he wasn't even sure he'd seen.

"Kankurou bought me lunch and it ran a little long." He fought down a guilty wince as he spoke. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either.

"Oh yeah? How was it?"

"It was cool! Suna has some weird food, though. Can you believe they eat scorpions? Yuck."

Rather than answer with some kind of smartass remark like she usually would, she smiled distantly at his answer, worrying him a bit. Something was wrong. "What about the Academy?" Tayuya asked, still not quite sounding like herself.

Even though he was concerned, he couldn't help the bright grin that appeared on his face. "It was awesome! All of the kids were so much fun, and they were eager to learn. There was one girl who reminded me of you," he said, pulling his shirt off over his head.

Her face finally lit up a bit, and she curiously sat up on her haunches. "Yeah? How so?"

Naruto shrugged. "I dunno, really, it was just a feeling. It could've also been her scowl and utter disrespect for authority." When she laughed, he continued, laughing a little himself as he thought of Kiko. "Teaching those kids reminded me of why I want to be the Hokage in the first place. Just like Sandaime-jii-chan did for me, I want to help those kids who might not have someone to teach them. I don't want anyone to be overlooked just because they have a little trouble understanding how to do something, and I definitely don't want anyone to be treated like they're not as good as everyone else just because of who they are." A resolute glare accompanied his statement, making Tayuya's smile fully drop.

"Sometimes I think you're too good for me," she mumbled, frowning as she played with the ends of her hair.

"Sometimes I think you are, too."

Tayuya could feel him staring at her, and after an entire minute, she couldn't take it anymore. "What?"

He shook his head and smiled. "I can't get over how pretty you are."

She felt that annoyingly familiar tingly feeling spread through her chest, and she lifted her head to glare at him. "That's not fair," she grunted.

Naruto tilted his head and furrowed his eyebrows slightly, confused. "What's not?"

The redhead sighed loudly and plopped back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. She couldn't explain it without making him upset. She couldn't say that he deserved better, that she was simply no good for him and would ruin his dream of being Hokage. Or maybe she was worried that if she told him these things he'd realize she was right and that he deserved a girl like Sakura after all.

Sakura was bratty and annoying, sure, but she hadn't done the things Tayuya had. She wouldn't bring Naruto down with her sins like Tayuya would, and no one would frown at him dating a smart, loyal kunoichi of the Leaf. If she dated the girl who'd had a significant hand in killing the Third Hokage, though…

"Nothing," she whispered in a small voice, feeling stupid for allowing this to get to her so much. It was just…fuck. She was feeling things now. Weird things. She wasn't just worried about herself or how she felt anymore. Yeah, she'd always fussed over Naruto, but this was different. It actually scared her how much she valued his happiness.

The bed shifted under her as the blond kneeled on it and she curled herself into a smaller ball, insistent on not letting him touch her.

Naruto reached out for her, but she refused to any move closer despite his best efforts. "Tayuya-chan?"

The slight hurt in his voice made her feel bad, but she reasoned that she'd feel worse if she kept leading him on like this. It'd just be worse for the both of them when he finally realized exactly how much she'd screw up his life. It was kinder of her to make him lose interest before they got too serious. "I'm really tired."

The blond frowned. It worried him that she was actively turning down the offer to fool around since she was usually the instigator, but he decided to take her word for it. He didn't know what she'd done during the time he was gone, so maybe she'd just trained too hard and needed to rest. It'd certainly explain why she wasn't acting like herself. "Well, good night, then," he mumbled, leaning over and kissing her on the cheek.

The kiss left her cheek burning. She wanted to roll over, grab him, and never let go, but she couldn't. Not if she really cared about him. She didn't trust herself to open her mouth and reply, so she settled for a more noncommittal sound. "Mmm."

She waited until his breathing slowed before she turned over to look at him. She reached a hand out and gently played with a lock of his long blond hair, smiling sadly at how much the feel of it between her fingertips comforted her. She was going to miss this, but at least she'd had a month to experience what most people took for granted. Even if Naruto married someone else, and even if she never met another guy who could make her feel like she wasn't completely evil, she'd be satisfied. This is the way her life was supposed to be.

Girls like her didn't get happy endings.

* * *

Gaara placed the cookies on a plate, taking a strange, slightly obsessive compulsive enjoyment in the way he had arranged them. The nights were made for him. Since he couldn't sleep what with the Shukaku constantly trying to take over his mind and all, he'd usually spend this time either catching up on work or reading a good book. If he was in a particularly restless mood, he might even do a bit of training.

Regardless of his night's plans, though, he always started with some milk and cookies.

As he settled into his custom-made feather stuffed chair that he'd picked up from Konoha a year or so ago, he heard the nearly silent sound of footsteps approaching from the stairwell. His eyes flickered up to see Naruto's second best friend sneaking down the stairs.

"Hi," he said, not quite sure how to greet the girl. He felt his lips twitch upwards when she jumped and twisted her head around to look at him, long red hair wrapping around her face. She seemed to calm down a bit after recognizing who he was, but he could tell just by the way she was staring at him that she was still uncomfortable in his presence. Something that bothered him more than he allowed himself to admit.

"Oh. Hi."

Gaara held out the plate towards her, "Cookie?"

He noticed that she seemed to be having an internal battle of sorts with herself and waited patiently for her to make a decision. Finally, she cautiously made her way over to him and reached a shaky hand towards the plate.

"Thanks." She grabbed one of the chocolate chip cookies and seated herself in the chair across from him, giving herself more than enough room to get away just in case he decided to go batshit. She trusted him as the Kazekage and as Naruto's second best friend, but not as a former psychopathic jinchuuriki who couldn't sleep.

They sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes, staring at each other as they tried to think of something to say. Well, at least he wasn't the only one who had trouble starting conversations. Gaara took a small breath, deciding to open with something light and innocuous.

"Trouble sleeping?"

Rather than answer, the girl shrugged. Not because she didn't want to answer, but because she wasn't sure how to. She couldn't exactly say that she hated herself and was slowly realizing that her sort of boyfriend was way too good for her and deserved better. Not to someone who knew him, anyway.

She chewed gingerly on the treat, a little surprised at how good it tasted. She stuffed the rest of it into her mouth, barely chewing before swallowing it down her throat. "Who made these? Temari?"

"I did. What's troubling you?" he asked, using his sand to send the cookies over to where she was. Sweets had a tendency to loosen ones tongue, and he was honestly curious as to why she looked so haggard.

Tayuya shrugged her shoulders, grabbing two more cookies from the offered plate. He'd never given her a limit on the amount she could eat, so it was his own fault. "Life in general. We live in a pretty fucked up world."

"I agree. But that's not why you can't sleep."

She sighed loudly, nibbling on one of the cookies in her hand. It wasn't like Gaara was going to tell anyone. Somehow he didn't seem like the gossiping type. "Well...we're going back to Konoha in a few of weeks."

Gaara nodded, slightly pleased that she was finally talking to him. They'd exchanged maybe a dozen words in the roughly month and a half she'd been there. It wasn't anyone's fault, really. He was always busy and rarely around, and she was always either with Temari or Naruto in their rooms. "Sadly."

"And, well, you know, I'm just anxious. I'm technically a shinobi there, but I've spent much more time on the road than I have in Konoha. Long story," she explained, noticing the way he cocked his head slightly. "It's just...when we get back, I'm going to be officially starting my life there. What if I don't fit in with those goody goodies?"

If he were capable, he might have laughed. "I can assure you that there are many less than decent people who reside in the Leaf. You'll be one of the better ones."

"Yeah, but only because Naruto's around."

"If Naruto weren't around, Konoha wouldn't exist right now. I'd have flattened it when I turned into the Ichibi. In fact, there probably wouldn't have even been a Konoha for me to flatten if the Kyuubi hadn't been sealed into his body. Thousands of people have been saved just because Naruto's been around. I fail to see your point."

"My point is that I'm not a good person. Naruto is, though, and I'm just pretending to be a good person so that he'll still like me. I should just…" she sighed and toyed with the cookie in her hands, picking the chips out with her fingernails. "I should just leave him alone."

At this, Gaara was silent for a few minutes. His fingers were threaded in front of his face as he thought, and he stared over them at his fellow redhead. Just when she was about to ask him what the fuck was up, he spoke.

"You don't know Naruto very well."

His statement pissed her off. As far as she knew, Gaara had only spent––at most––a month with him while she'd spent over two years with the blond. Her first reaction was to tell him to fuck off, but she figured he deserved the chance to explain himself. "What?"she asked, barely containing her anger.

"Naruto can sense good people, and the fact that you even care about what kind of person you are tells me that you're good. Besides, If you weren't, Naruto wouldn't like you. And he certainly wouldn't be kissing you."

Tayuya's eyes widened. "How did you––"

"I've walked by your bedroom on the way to mine. I've heard the giggling." Her reddening face amused him. And to think he thought she couldn't get embarrassed. "Just try to be the best person that you can be and everything will work out." Right after the words left his mouth, the boy cracked a rare, tiny grin. "At least that's what I say to make myself feel better."

Unfortunately, his words had the opposite effect. "You don't fucking understand!" she growled, raising her voice. "You haven't seen what I have. You haven't done what I have. I'm not good for him! I'm evil, I-"

"I've killed over a hundred people, most of whom didn't deserve it," Gaara interjected.

Her argument died in her throat at that. Well, shit, that's right. She'd actually forgotten that he used to be a violent, raging psychopath. "Oh."

"You won't hold Naruto back. You'll help him. You know what it's like to live in the darkness. You know how they––we––think, and you can be the one who keeps him from falling into it. After all you've been through––after all you've seen and done––Tayuya, he needs you. Just like you need him. Yin and Yang."

Tayuya blinked. She hadn't thought of that, of Naruto needing her. Gaara had a point. Girls like Sakura weren't tough enough to deal with the shit he'd be going through in the next few years. They'd crumble under the pressure of what was basically war. It felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders, and for the first time that day, she considered the possibility that maybe she was the best thing for him. Finally feeling sleepy, she stood up and stretched.

"Thanks," she said, smiling down at the younger boy. "I'm glad you're one of Naruto's friends."

"And hopefully one of yours, too."

"Duh." Grabbing another cookie from his plate and giving him a small wave, she hopped back up the stairs two at a time, in a substantially better mood than she had been only ten minutes before.

Gaara watched her go with a satisfied smile on his face. Knowing that he'd helped his best friend, even if he didn't know it, filled him with a pleasure he couldn't describe. He felt like he was finally paying Naruto back for everything he'd done for him––though they'd never be completely square. In his opinion, there was absolutely nothing he could do to thank Naruto for giving him his life back.

He reached for one of the treats, only to touch the cold, smooth porcelain of the dish. Surprised, his eyes shot down to where his hand rested on the plate.

There was only one cookie left.

* * *

Reading over the Fourth's scrolls, Naruto felt an intense amount of anger and confusion. True to his word, Jiraiya had given him all of the Fourth's notes on the Hiraishin Technique a month ago. He hadn't had much time to look them over what with Tayuya taking up any free time he had left, but since she'd been acting strange lately, he suddenly found that he had all the time in the world and had been poring over them night and day. Only half of it really made sense, and that was because Omoi had taught him a little more about sealing while he was in Kumo.

He didn't know how the Fourth had done it, but somehow, he had managed to warp himself through time and space. Rather than just concentrating on where he wanted to go like with the Shunshin no Jutsu, he would have to lock onto both his exact location and the location of the seal. The seal then needed to be remotely activated by himself, which was no easy feat since he needed to lock onto the specific chakra signature of his seal. It also required that he have a general awareness of the location of each of his seals.

Naruto rubbed his forehead, already feeling a headache coming on. This was ridiculous. The Fourth was a genius, and even though he was definitely smarter than he was a couple of years ago, he was far from the Yondaime's level. The guy's head must've huge to hold such an obviously large brain.

Luckily, Jiraiya chose that exact moment to walk by the room, and the blond quickly hopped to his feet to catch him. "Ne, Ero-sennin, do you know how to summon an object from one place to another? And when you seal an object, where does it go?"

The old man paused. "You know, Minato asked me a very similar question he was younger." Jiraiya stepped closer and looked over what Naruto had written down, eyebrows rising a bit as he tried to make sense of the scribbles. "Are these your notes?"

Embarrassed, Naruto shrugged. "Yeah, but they're stupid. They're just a bunch of doodles."

The man shook his head. "No, you're just a visual learner. They actually make sense." He straightened back up and rubbed at his chin. "I can't say for sure, but Minato seemed to think that objects sealed into scrolls were placed into some kind of alternate space. However, that dimension still existed parallel to our own, so the object also exists in this one––it's just displaced, I guess you could say. For example, Mount Myoboku exists in this world, and we can get to it, but we first have to pass into that dimensional space. I don't know if that helps at all."

"Hm," Naruto mumbled, scratching at his forehead. "It kind of makes sense. I guess."

"Good luck. He...I'm proud of you for giving it shot. I just want you to know that."

The blond grinned. "Thanks, Ero-sennin." He waited for Jiraiya to leave and plopped back down on the couch.

"A parallel dimension..." he mumbled to himself after the sannin left. His mind drifted to one of the books he'd read half a year ago about a group of friends who'd accidentally teleported themselves to a strange world. They'd only been able to escape after constructing a makeshift radio tower out of spare parts and sending an SOS beacon back to their own world. Naruto's eyes widened.

That was it! Maybe he could somehow travel to this dimension, leave a piece of himself that would stay in that dimension, and create a link that would act as some sort of...conductor and allow him to summon himself!

But how would he get to that dimension? Was it even possible? He frowned deeply, annoyed that he'd once again another wall. Just when he thought he was getting somewhere.

"Hard at work?" Tayuya asked, wrapping her arms around his torso from behind. She leaned her head around his shoulder, staring at his scroll with a mixture of curiosity and confusion.

The blond blinked, still finding it hard to come to terms with their relationship. It was weird having her be so...nice. She was never really mean before, but she was definitely never this affectionate towards him. She still swore like a sailor, and she liked beating up people twice her size, but when they were alone, all of that stopped. She became a person who only shared her best smile with him and allowed only him to see her at her most vulnerable.

It was like she was just waiting for them to get together before she let him in on the fact that she was a normal girl. It was both a huge honor and responsibility to protect her and her feelings, and it was one that he wouldn't trade for the world. They weren't officially boyfriend and girlfriend or anything, but they might as well have been. They could barely be in the same room without at least sharing a kiss, and more often than not, a whole lot more.

And that was why he was careful whenever they were near each other. He didn't want to say or do anything to ruin whatever it was they were building, so he had, admittedly, been avoiding her. After what happened a couple of nights before, he was a little wary of her. Still, he answered her question, reasoning that

"Kind of. I can't figure out how to get to something to a parallel dimension so that I can use the Hiraishin."

"Really? Why don't you just go to Mount Myobazu or whatever Ero-Sennin mentioned," Tayuya asked, inadvertently revealing that she'd been eavesdropping on their conversation. She'd been waiting for the perfect time to apologize, but he always seemed too busy. She ignored the voice in her head that was saying she was just afraid to confront him.

Naruto smacked himself on the forehead. "You're a genius!"

"I was just pointing out the obvious. I think you need to take a break; your brain's fried and you're starting to turn back into stupid Naruto."

"Maybe you're right. I can pick this up tomorrow." He threw the scroll and his notes onto the chair and stretched, yawning widely as he did so. "Thanks, Tayuya-chan. I don't know what I'd do without you. I mean it."

His bright blue eyes stared unwaveringly into hers, and she knew that he really did mean it. He always meant what he said, even if she was sometimes too jaded to believe it.

"You'd be a weakass loser, duh." She pecked him on the cheek and sat down in his lap, slipping her arms around his neck this time. She leaned her lips up and placed them gently against his chin, feeling the fine whiskers that were just starting to come in. She placed another teasing kiss a little higher up on the corner of his mouth, smiling when he tried to capture her lips as she moved away.

"Don't," he murmured, glancing around to make sure that no one was coming. They were in one of the house's many dens, and while they hadn't heard a peep from anyone besides Jiraiya in the last hour or so, there was still a chance that someone could walk in on them.

Tayuya rolled her eyes. "No one ever comes to this side of the house. We're good."

Naruto looked down at her and raised his eyebrows. "So I guess you're feeling better? What was wrong?"

She shrugged her shoulders and smiled awkwardly. "I was tired."

Unconvinced, he narrowed his eyes. "Really?"

"Yup."

He knew there was something she wasn't telling him, but when you have an extremely attractive girl in your lap practically demanding that you pay attention to her, you don't question it. You just don't. "Well…are you tired now?"

She smirked slyly at him, understanding what he was getting at. She leaned up again and kissed him full on the lips this time, pulling away before he had a chance to even register what she'd done.

"Nope."

* * *

**AN: The pacing absolutely SUCKS and I haven't fully proofed it-only the first half, really. I'm cutting out so much character building and stitching two chapters together, but like, I've been writing this thing for SIX YEARS. It's time to get things going, which is why this chapter's ridiculously long. The whole updating on the same I day I started thing was pure coincidence, by the way :P **

**Thanks guys for your awesome reviews! I literally can't forget this story because I get a new review at least once a week, and then I'm like 'oh fuck I need to write.' I have work tomorrow but fuck it, needed to finish this! I'll check it for errors tomorrow night.**


	38. Chapter 38

**The Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 38**

"Hey, Tayuya-chan, have you seen the comb I got from Yugi-chan? I can't find it anywhere." Naruto shuffled through his bag, completely undoing any progress he'd made in the last half hour. His freshly washed clothing was strewn out all over the bed again, earning himself a frustrated groan from Tayuya.

"I packed it in my bag already. It's not like you've ever used it."

Naruto stuck his tongue out at her and went back to packing, actually taking the time to refold his things. With all of the clothing he'd received from Gaara, he couldn't afford to just randomly toss things in like he'd been doing for the past few years. Besides, Tayuya would just take them out and repack them if he didn't do a good enough job, and he was really wary of annoying her since she was already in a bad mood.

A small sigh distracted him from his task, and he took a second to glance up at her. He watched her stare out the window, and even though he already knew what the answer was, he asked the question anyway. "What's wrong?"

Tayuya shrugged. "I can't believe we're leaving tomorrow."

Naruto grimaced. He hated seeing her so upset. "Yeah, it sucks. But at least we can finally go home and see everyone!" the blond exclaimed, trying to get her as excited as he was about it. Sure, he would miss being in Suna, but there was no place like home. It'd been three long years of harsh training and constant moving around, and he was more than ready to take it easy for once.

Fully turning away from the window to face him, she rolled her eyes. "You mean, at least _you_ can go home and see everyone. Konoha's not my home, and I don't have anyone I'm interested in seeing there."

Naruto frowned. "It'll be your home soon, though, and my friends will be yours too. It'll be great, I promise."

"What if you're wrong?" she asked. "What if I hate them and they hate me?"

"Well, as long as we're together, it'll work out. It always has so far, right? Besides, Anko will be there, too. That's two people you can count on right there."

Tayuya slowly nodded her head. She really couldn't deny that what he was saying was true. So far, the two of them had been able to overcome every obstacle that had been thrown their way. Still, this was different. They weren't both being thrust into a new situation––only she was.

She dropped her shirt into her lap, feeling uncertainty begin to creep into her heart. Even if she did manage to fit in with Naruto and his friends, there was one very important thing that she'd been trying very hard not to think about for the last few years; Sakura.

It was no secret to anyone who'd ever met Naruto that he'd been in love with her. It was a bit shrewd of her, but half of the reason she was so aggressive was to help him forget about the pink-haired kunoichi. Hopefully her plan was working since he hadn't so much as mentioned Sakura since they'd kissed. Actually, he hadn't mentioned her since they were in the Earth country. Hm.

Still, she knew how hard it was to get rid of feelings for someone, so she couldn't necessarily be upset with him. For example, Misumi. Even when he'd taunted her, beaten her up, and stabbed Naruto, a tiny voice in the back of her mind still wanted him to drop everything and kiss her. As illogical as it was, he was her first crush; He was an arrogant, murdering asshole who'd never reciprocated her feelings, but her first crush nonetheless.

With the Akatsuki, Orochimaru, and Sasuke all breathing down their backs, it amazed her that she was worried about Sakura stealing Naruto from her. And never mind that Sakura probably had very little interest in him. She'd try to take him just because she could. That's just how women like Sakura worked.

She stood up and walked over to where Naruto was sitting cross-legged on the bed packing up his pants. She sat down on his lap facing him––effectively stopping his actions––and lowered her lips to his.

The kiss was slow and soft, different from their usually more rushed, frantic kisses. She poured every ounce of her feelings into it, and it was a good minute before she let him go.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes to look up at her. "Wow," he breathed. He couldn't help but notice that there was something else going on in that kiss. His entire body tingled, and the way she was looking at him made him a little nervous. In a good way.

"And don't you fuckin' forget it." She stood up and sashayed out of the room, leaving him positively dumbfounded. She was so much different from the boyish-looking, foulmouthed, fourteen-year old girl he'd met at the hospital. Well, she was still foulmouthed, but to call her boyish-looking was simply laughable.

To put it in simple terms, she was _hot_. He didn't know if it was instinct or learnt behavior, but she seemed to know exactly how to keep his eyes on her. A smirk here, a cock of the hip there, and he was hooked.

Naruto roughly shook his head, doing his best to stop thinking about it. They had yet to really define their relationship, but to be fair, they hadn't really been doing much talking lately. And it wasn't even that they were avoiding it. It was just impossible for them to talk for any significant length of time without wanting to jump each other.

Shaking his head again, the blond tossed the pants he'd been packing up on the bed and followed her out of the room.

Walking down the stairs, he was instantly met with the amused stares of Temari and Anko and the horrified gawking of Tayuya and Kankurou. "What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. When Temari's eyes flickered down to his crotch, he too glanced down at himself––only to see that he was sporting a rather large bulge in his pants.

He quickly sped back up the stairs, mentally begging his penis to calm itself down. Luckily the humiliation helped to expedite the process, and he sheepishly jogged back down a few seconds later.

"Something interesting happen up there?" Temari teased, wriggling her eyebrows.

Kankurou looked between Tayuya and Naruto, an expression of understanding slowly beginning to grow on his face. "Wait, you and Tayuya––"

His sister laughed. "Are you _seriously_ just now realizing this? They've been going at it for over a month now."

Not wanting to be the only one who was too slow to realize what was going on, he desperately turned to his younger brother. "Gaara?"

Unfortunately Gaara only shrugged his shoulders slightly, giving Kankurou a somewhat pitying look. "It was obvious."

Tayuya finally broke out of her embarrassment induced shock to look at the purple-haired jounin. "Anko? You knew too?"

"Of course I knew," Anko said, laughing at the redhead's shocked expression. "Why do you think I've been giving you your space?"

Tayuya blinked. Now that she thought about it, Anko _had_ been making herself scarce lately. She was usually around in the mornings and during training, but the rest of the time she'd simply disappear. It ashamed her a bit to admit it, but she'd been so wrapped up in Naruto that she hadn't even noticed.

The main reason she was so surprised was because she was certain that Anko would've teased her about it. It was what she did best, and she couldn't so much as mention Naruto's name without receiving a generous ribbing. Perhaps she didn't know the woman as well as she thought she did.

Realizing that they hadn't been as discreet as they'd thought, Naruto turned to the old man who was watching the scene from the couch with a slightly amused smirk on his face. "What about you, Ero-sennin? Did you know?"

The man shrugged. "You're old enough to make your own decisions. Besides, Tayuya keeps you in line. She's stricter than I am when it comes to your training."

This time, Anko looked shocked. Apparently a lot had changed since they were on the border of the Lightning Country. She thought he'd never approve, but it seemed as if she was completely wrong about him. Then again, after nearly two years of being around the girl, there was no way he wouldn't have seen the good in Tayuya. Besides her strength and astounding skill with genjutsu, she genuinely cared about Naruto.

Kankurou groaned loudly. "So I'm really the only one who was clueless this whole time. And to think that I was trying to help you get la-"

"So what's for dinner!" Naruto cut in before his friend could finish his sentence, shooting a nervous glance Tayuya's way. He'd neglected to tell her about the many times Kankurou had taken him out to meet girls-mostly because he didn't know how to. He loved being with her, but it was just nice to hang out with a guy for a change. Even if that guy was constantly introducing him to girls that Tayuya would kill him for speaking to.

Gaara motioned towards the dining room. "I ordered out since it's our last meal together. I bought every delicacy that Suna has to offer."

"What are we waiting for? Let's eat!" Naruto led the way, glad to have an excuse to avoid the redhead's curious gaze.

They all seated themselves at the table, and the genin immediately blanched when he saw the prevalent ingredient in most of the dishes. "Great, scorpions."

Everyone laughed and dug in, and it was vastly different than their first meal altogether. For one, Temari and Tayuya weren't fighting. In fact, they were sitting right next to each other, laughing and joking with each other like they hadn't had a fight to the death only a few years prior. The tension that had been there when they'd arrived was also nonexistent. They'd grown into a sort of dysfunctional family in their short three months together and didn't feel the need to put up an act.

The biggest difference, though, was that Naruto and Tayuya weren't sitting with each other. In fact, they were at opposite sides of the table. Neither of them felt the need to be connected at the hip anymore. They'd gotten to a place where they were completely comfortable being apart from one another for awhile, and since this was the last time they'd be seeing their Suna friends for who knew how long, they decided their time was better spent with them.

"So, what's the first thing you're gonna do when you get back?" Kankurou asked, nudging Naruto on the shoulder.

Naruto's eyes lit up. "Get Ichiraku's, of course! I can't wait to see if they have any new flavors! It's been so long…" A sliver of drill slipped out of his mouth, and he quickly lapped it up with his tongue.

"Uh oh, Tayuya, you'd better watch out. Naruto might leave you for ramen," Anko teased.

The redhead shrugged. "I know when I'm beat," she joked, shooting him a smile. He smiled back, earning a pained groan from Temari.

"Oh my god, you two are going to give me cavities."

Kankurou rolled his eyes. "Aw, come on, let them have their fun. You're just jealous because you don't have a man of your own."

Tayuya and Temari exchanged a knowing glance. "Yeah, that must be it," Temari said, smirking. The only who noticed that there was something off about her tone was Gaara, whose eyes narrowed suspiciously in her direction.

The rest of the meal passed too quickly, and it wasn't long before they were all heading up to bed. Tayuya showered first, and when she was done, Naruto took his turn. He emerged from the bathroom to see her zipping up both of their packs, and seeing the blank look on her face, he sat down on the floor next to her. He slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her into him so that her head rested on his shoulder, and she gratefully wrapped both of her arms around his torso.

"Our entire trip stuffed into two bags," he stated simply.

She lightly shrugged her shoulders. "Yup."

They sat on the floor for a good ten minutes, both reminiscing a bit about all they'd done both together and apart. Finally, Naruto gently nudged her to get her attention. "We should go to bed. We have a long day tomorrow." He stood and held his hand out to help her up, but she refused it and hopped up on her own, causing him to smile. She might be making out with him now, but she was still Tayuya.

"I know you're upset about going back to Konoha, but I really think you're gonna love it," he said again, pulling his shirt off to get ready for bed. He lie down and opened his arms, beckoning for her ot join him.

Tayuya snorted and rolled her eyes, flopping back onto their bed and snuggling up next to him. "Oh, yeah, I'm gonna _love_ watching the entire village treat my boyfriend like shit."

Frustrated, Naruto sighed. "We've been over this, Tayuya-chan. I'm going to change their minds–you'll see."

"But you shouldn't have to! You haven't done a fucking thing to them! Shit, you've _protected_ them!" She yelled, sitting back up to glare at him. She felt her heart rate speed up, and she was sure that her cheeks were flushed with rage.

Feeling himself start to become angry, he too sat up and turned to face her. It annoyed him that she was bringing this up again. It wasn't the first time she'd expressed her problems with returning, but she'd never gotten this upset about it before. "So what do you want me to do, Tayuya? You want me to turn my back on the village I swore to protect? On my friends? Because that's not going to happen. Ever."

Seeing the look on his face made her feel like a bitch. She wasn't asking him to abandon everything he knew for her–not exactly, anyway–but she could see how he was getting that impression. She grabbed his large hand in her smaller one, squeezing it gently. "I just hate to see you get hurt. Especially when you don't deserve any of it."

Her fingers played with his, and he gradually felt himself calm down. She only lashed out when she was feeling self conscious or worried, and since she'd been so calm lately, he'd forgotten that. "What is this really about?"

"I told you, I think you deserve more than what Konoha gives you."

"But it's my home. I want it to be yours too."

Those fucking pleading eyes of his bore into hers, practically begging her to agree with him. The part that annoyed her the most was that she knew she would. She knew she'd do just what he wanted–try to fit in with those prejudiced assholes to make him happy. What else would she do? What else _could_ she do?

Even if she decided she didn't want anything to do with Naruto and tried to make it on her own, she still had the tracking seal they'd put on her in case she ever tried to run. Best case they just caught and imprisoned her. Worst…well, she'd had an alright life towards the end so she couldn't complain too much.

"Fine, but I'll tell you now–I won't put up with anyone giving you shit," she pouted, slamming herself back on the bed and crossing her arms.

He lowered himself down a little slower, still wary of her temper. He cared about her, but she scared the hell out of him sometimes. He wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing yet. He kissed her on the cheek and smiled, a little unsure if they'd actually resolved anything. "Thanks."

It was a full five minutes before something she'd said earlier sunk in.

"_Boyfriend?_"

* * *

Tayuya felt tears begin to gather at the corners of her eyes. She hated herself for feeling so weak. Temari had developed into her best female friend–which wasn't hard considering she didn't have anyone else to compete with besides Anko. In a way, she owed her entire relationship to the girl. She and Naruto might have gotten together on their own eventually, but it probably would've been years before either one of them grew a spine and made their feelings known.

She wrapped her arms around the older girl, squeezing her as if she didn't ever want to let go. "Thanks," she mumbled into her hair.

A little put off by the action, Temari returned the hug albeit with a little less strength. "No problem."

"Women," Kankurou murmured, watching the girls hug a few feet away. Despite saying that, he too looked like he wanted to cry. turning away from the kunoichi, He threw his arms around Naruto and executed a perfect bro hug, patting him roughly on the back a couple of times before letting go. "You know you guys are welcome in Suna anytime, right?"

Naruto grinned and nodded. "Thanks, and likewise for Konoha!"

He then to turned to Gaara and pulled Gaara into a hug which the redhead awkwardly returned. Naruto started to pull away but the Kazekage held him fast.

"About your idea," Gaara whispered, voice low enough so that only Naruto could him. "You have my support."

Naruto blinked. He'd actually sort of forgotten, figuring that Gaara wasn't interested in his plan. He wouldn't blame him; he himself was a little wary about the whole thing. So much could go wrong, and he wasn't sure if he could ever forgive himself if any of his friends got hurt because of him. Still, it was a necessity if he wanted to keep them all safe. It was a catch-22 if he ever saw one. "Thanks, Gaara," he said, eyes shining with sincerity. "I appreciate you doing that for me."

"It's not just for you. It's for everyone." A hint of a smirk appeared on Gaara's face. "But mostly for you."

The blond laughed a little, shaking his head at how much different he was as compared to the murderous jinchuuriki he'd met in the Chuunin Exams. "I'll send a message to let you know what's going on when the time comes."

"I'll be waiting."

"Waiting for what?" Temari asked, approaching them.

The boys exchanged glances. "Nothing," they replied simultaneously.

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Just take care of Tayuya, alright?"

Naruto blinked. Tayuya was the last person who needed to be taken care of. "Huh?"

Temari smiled mysteriously. "She's a little…self-conscious."

Again, Naruto found himself surprised. Tayuya? Self-conscious? It was hard to believe. She was smart, beautiful, an amazing kunoichi…she wasn't _allowed_ to be down on herself. "About what?"

"I can't really say. Just be there for her when she needs you. Okay?"

"I…guess ?"

She exasperatedly shook her head but hugged him anyway, being careful not to hold it for too long since she could practically feel Tayuya's eyes burning into the back of her head.

After another round of heartfelt goodbyes, the group set off towards Konoha, ready to face the final leg of their journey.

It took them the better part of the day to make it out of the desert. For hours they only saw sand for miles, but eventually, Naruto pointed out into the distance, excitement palpable in his voice. "Trees! I see trees!" he yelled, grabbing Tayuya's shoulder and shaking it.

Tayuya rolled her eyes, looking decidedly less enthusiastic. "Great."

Anko looped an around around her shoulders. "Aw come on, Taya-chan. We're going home! You can do whatever you want without me breathing down your back about training."

"That does sound pretty nice," she admitted. Despite how easygoing she was about most things, the jounin was a veritable slavedriver when it came to training. She was nearly as hard on her as Orochimaru had been–before he'd become fixated on Kimimaro and Sasuke, anyway. She was desperately looking forward to the break, and especially to just lounging in bed with Naruto without having to worry about the time or anyone walking in on them. There was always something going on in Suna, so they never really got the chance to relax together.

They traveled another fifteen miles before deciding to set up camp. It only took them an hour to get the fire going and a meal cooked, and five minutes later, they were all sitting in a circle and eating together. There was a strange mood hanging over them; one of dread, excitement, and worry.

Jiraiya sat back and cleared his throat, throwing the remains of his meal into the fire. "Tomorrow, Naruto and I are taking a quick trip."

"What? Where?" Tayuya questioned, eyes shooting from Jiraiya to Naruto.

"Mount Myoboku," Naruto chimed in.

The redhead raised her eyebrows, a little surprised that this was the first she was hearing of it. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Naruto shrugged. "I just asked Ero-sennin a couple of hours ago. I was going to let you know tonight."

She'd been wondering what they were talking about, and now she knew. It took her a few seconds, but she eventually realized why they were making the trip. "Is this about the Hiraishin?"

"Yup! I'm going to use your idea and plant one of the kunai there and use it as a receiver."

Tayuya rolled her eyes. "Naruto, I threw that out there so you'd stop studying and make out with me. I don't think it's that easy."

"But what if it is?"

"Then everyone would be flying all over the place."

Naruto paused. She had a point there. "Well, it can't hurt to try," he pouted.

"You're so cute when you're disappointed." She leaned up and kissed him playfully on the cheek, laughing when he turned his cheek away a second later.

"People are eating," Anko said, smirking at the scowl Tayuya sent her way.

"Whatever. Come on Naruto, you're done."

"Huh? But I still have to finish my-"

"You're done." He looked up, saw that look in her eyes, and quickly nodded his head.

"Couldn't eat another bite." He yawned exaggeratedly and stretched. "I'm turning in." He quickly followed Tayuya to the adjacent clearing where their sleeping bags were set up.

The two remaining adults stared at each other over the fire, both wearing equally disgusted expressions.

Anko was the first to speak. "Do you think they're-"

"I try not to think about it."

* * *

"Nah, you've got it all wrong, brah!"

Naruto gawked at the large orange toad, unable to believe the words that had come from his mouth. He was currently on Mount Myoboku, and after finding Gamakichi, he and Jiraiya had split up to take care of their own personal business. "What? How can it be wrong?" he asked even though Tayuya had told him the exact same thing the night before. He still wasn't quite ready to give up on his idea.

"The Hiraishin is a space-time jutsu. It's got nothin' to do with summonin', brah. At least not that type," Gamakichi croaked, hopping along beside Naruto.

Grudgingly coming to realize that he'd have to start from scratch in his research, he crossed his arms and frowned. "How do you know?"

The toad shrugged. "Dad told me."

"How does _he_ know?"

"Ask him yourself." He motioned for him to follow, so shrugging, Naruto did just that.

They walked (and hopped) together up a steep hill, and after getting about halfway up, they both had to use chakra to stick to the nearly vertical cliff wall. Finally they reached the top, and the first thing Naruto saw was the Boss Toad–Gamabunta–reclining lazily on his side, pipe sticking out of the side of his mouth.

"I heard you were here," the toad boomed, what looked like a smirk popping up on his face. "Where's that brat Jiraiya?"

Gamakichi hopped forward. "He's talkin' to the elders, pops."

"Eh, he'll drop by later. What do you want?"  
Feeling a little nervous, Naruto took a few steps closer to the huge toad. "Well, I was wondering what you could tell me about the Hiraishin. I thought it had something to do with a parallel dimension, but Gamakichi says that's wrong," he frowned, sticking his tongue out at the smaller toad's retreating back as he left to head back down the mountain. The toad turned around just long enough to raise his middle finger before disappearing over the edge.

"The Hiraishin, eh? You're right about the parallel dimension. You have to step into the other direction and then come back. Time passes differently in this dimension, so while it seems like you're taking five seconds and thirty steps in that one, barely even a millisecond has passed in this one."

"That's it?" Naruto asked, surprised at how simple it seemed. There had to be more to it.

"That's it?" the giant toad choked out, sitting up a little. "The Hiraishin shortens your lifespan the more you use it. Not by a whole lot, mind you, but you lose a few seconds each time. And those seconds add up over time."

The blonde shrugged his shoulders, not really caring if he died sooner. The Sozo Saisei had already shortened Tayuya's, so at least they'd be able to die at roughly around the same time. "I don't get it; how does the seal and kunai come in to this?"

"The seal serves as a marker. Minato used to describe the other dimension as dark and empty-a void, you could say. One step in that dimension could put him hundreds of miles away in this one. The marker gives off a unique glow that only he can see so that he knows where to exit."

Naruto titled his head. He thought he'd had it, but now it wasn't making sense anymore. "Wait, so how does it work if there are multiple markers? Won't they be in completely different places in the other dimension?"

"All of the markers he places are in the same place relative to himself. Wherever the kunai are in this dimension will be there in the void–only they'll exist as glowing lights."

"I _still_ don't get it. How does he keep track of where he is?" Naruto asked, feeling himself begin to get frustrated. He appreciated that Gamabunta was trying to explain it in simple words, but that didn't make it any easier.

The large toad took a short puff form his pipe before speaking. "By taking a mental snapshot. It takes a lot of practice, but you can train your mind to remember things in a second. No one said it was easy, and that's why the Fourth was called a genius."

"Well, I'm obviously not nearly as smart as him since I have no idea how to do any of that."

"It's something you have to experience to really understand."

The blond was quiet for a few minutes as he attempted to process this new information. Things were gradually beginning to fall into place, but there was one giant, gaping piece that needed to be filled before he could go any further. "So…how do I get to this other dimension?"

Gamabunta cracked a grin. "Ah, that's the hard part. You have to find it."

Naruto was dumbfounded. "I…I have to find my own dimension? Is that even possible?"

"Minato believed their were an infinite amount of them, with most of them being completely devoid of life while existing parallel to our own. He used a complex seal to search for one, and once he found it, he had the key to it tattooed on himself. He studied the Sharingan extensively to figure out how to find it in the first place, though having the Second Hokage's notes certainly helped."

Naruto couldn't help but marvel at exactly how smart the Fourth Hokage was. He'd never in a million years think to study the Sharingan, but it certainly made sense. Itachi had built his own city inside the Mangekyou, and it was a wonder that he hadn't figured out the Hiraishin for himself. Which brought him to his next question.

"Couldn't someone barge their way in and stop him from using it?"

The great toad shook his head. "Each formula is unique to a certain chakra signature, and the seal on the tattoo is nearly the same as the seal he places on his kunai. The difference is that there is an entrance and exit character. In simpler terms, the seal he places on other objects and people are the doors, and he himself is the only key that can open them."

"…That…that actually makes sense. So do I have to make my own key and doors?"

"That, or you could just modify Minato's slightly."

"Wait, but if it's unique to chakra signature, then how would that work?"

Gamabunta paused, giving Naruto and incredulous look. "You _still _don't know?"

"Know what?"

He shook his large head again, a deep, rumbling sigh slipping out of his mouth. "It's not my place to tell you."

He wanted to ask, but he recognized a futile effort when he saw one. He'd just have to ask someone else about it later–most likely Jiraiya. "Thanks, Boss," Naruto grinned, saluting.

He lazily waved him off with a grunt. "Sure, kid, and hey, bring that girlfriend of yours by to visit sometime. Gamakichi says she's pretty hot for a human."

"Sure thing! See you later!"

As Naruto walked away to head back down the mountain, Gamabunta had to shake his head to be sure that he wasn't seeing things. It was uncanny, but he looked more and more like his father every time he saw him.

* * *

She was worried about Naruto even though she shouldn't be. he was just going to visit his summon animals, and Jiraiya was with him. He was completely safe–or at least that's what she wanted to believe. Anything could happen, especially in the shinobi world.

She was snapped from her thoughts by the sudden appearance of a pair of fishnet clad legs in front of her face, and she looked up at Anko with a curious frown.

"What's up?"

Anko set herself down next to the redhead, a slight smile on her face. "I just want to tell you that you're my sister now."

Tayuya raised her eyebrows, not quite sure what to say to that. "Um, thanks?"

"Look, I want you to know that you can come stay with me if you want. I have an extra room in my apartment that's just collecting dust. Just giving you some options if you need them."

"No thanks, I'll just stay with Naruto."

Anko shrugged. "I figured as much. Don't feel like you have nowhere to go if you find living with him to be too much."

"Thanks," she said again, this time with a bit more gratitude. She wrapped Anko in a one armed hug, leaning her chin on the woman's shoulder. "We're cool now, by the way. I get what you mean about the whole distraction thing, so you were right."

"It's rough, isn't it? Always being worried about them and wondering how they're doing?"

Tayuya pulled back. Well, that was new. "You had a boyfriend?"

"Yeah, once upon a time. He died on a mission," the woman shrugged, waving the question off.

"Did you love him?"

Anko tilted her head in thought. "Eh, can't say I loved him, but he was definitely the best lay I've ever had." She stood up and stretched, black tank top riding up on her stomach. "When we get back to Konoha, let's get dinner. I'll introduce you to my best friend––she's a genjutsu user like you––and maybe she'll be able to teach you some things."

"That'd be cool." The way she'd said it sounded noncommittal, but it really did sound like a good idea. She'd never admit it, but she was worried that once they got back to the village, Anko wouldn't want anything else to do with her. She was technically being paid to watch out for her, but to know that she was actually concerned and interested in her life made her heart swell a little. It was a feeling she'd only recently identified as true happiness.

"I'm holding you to that." She flipped Tayuya's ponytail before walking off, presumably to get ready for bed.

Left with her thoughts again, the girl realized that there were so many things she needed to do. Buy some new clothing, equipment, toiletries, and things Naruto was undoubtedly missing from his place. She'd also need to buy some groceries since they'd taken everything from the cupboards when they left. But those things were easily fixed and didn't bother her.

She knew she was being stupid, but she still couldn't shake her worries about having Naruto stolen from her. It was easy for him to concentrate on only her when there was no one else for him to look at. She was even more worried about how attractive he'd become in a mere three years. His hair was long, his body was ripped, and he had a cool, casual confidence about him that was irresistible to even her. For some reason, she felt as though his status as the Kyuubi container would now be vastly overlooked–at least by the younger, female population–and it might even make him seem hotter. What girl _wouldn't _want to date the village pariah? Especially a girl who wanted to piss off her parents.

Not to say that she herself hadn't changed. Like Naruto, her hair was long and her body was ripped, but unlike him, she had a sexy, smoldering air about her. She knew it, Naruto knew it, and every guy who'd ever come within ten feet of her knew it. If she didn't make a concerted effort to look mean and unapproachable, guys would be hitting on her left and right. It wasn't cockiness–it was fact.

Tayuya dropped her head into her hands, groaning at how dumb she was being. Well, if Naruto did decide to sow his seeds in random girls, at least she could stay with Anko. Or get her own place since she would undoubtedly be going on C-ranked missions at the easiest. Of course, this was all simply conjecture. He wasn't that kind of guy, and if he ever did decide to leave her, he'd do his best to minimize the damage.

It was at that moment that Naruto walked into camp, looking tired and distant. He plopped down on his sleeping bag with a loud sigh, leaning his head back to stare up at the quickly darkening sky.

"How was it?" Tayuya asked, walking over and sitting sideways on his lap. Now that they'd been outed, neither saw the point in bothering to hide their relationship.

"I got a great lead on the Hiraishin." He yawned widely and shook his head. "I need to sleep first though. I feel like my brain's gonna explode."

"Aw, are you sure? We could…" she leaned closer and whispered something in his ear, delighting in the way his ears began to burn a bright red.

"That sounds good too."

Smiling, he leaned in and kissed her roughly on the lips. She returned it with equal vigor, biting his bottom lip with her teeth. He loved it when she was a little rough with him, and he reached his and down to cup her ass. After a few minutes he noticed that she'd become distracted, and he pulled away to look at her. "Are you okay?" he asked, nudging the side of her neck with his lips.

She stared up at the sky with a strange expression on her face. "This is our last night of camping out," she murmured.

He placed a kiss on her jaw, smirking when he felt her sigh. "We can camp out on my roof."

"You know what I mean, asshole."

"Is that all that's bothering you?" he asked, fully leaning back to stare at her.

She played with the blanket they were sitting on and frowned. "I don't want to tell you."

"Come on."

"I'm worried you'll leave me when we get back to Konoha." she said in a low voice.

Naruto sighed loudly, letting his head fall back. "This again? You _know_ that'd never happen. We're best friends." It bothered him how little she thought of him. Hell, it bothered him how little she thought of herself. He had no idea why she was even considering the possibility that he wouldn't want her anymore. They had three solid years of friendship–two months of which they'd been intimate with each other.

"I don't want to believe it'll happen, but you don't understand how great you are. You're gonna be the Hokage one day."

"Tayuya-chan, you don't realize how fucking amazing you are," he rebutted, taking a page from her book by swearing. On one hand, he was happy that she was being honest with him. She trusted him enough to fully let her guard down, even at the cost of her pride. On the other, he really wished she'd just believe him when he said that she was the most important person to him.

She sighed with frustration. He wasn't understanding her. "This isn't a joke. You're not obligated to stay with me. You're sixteen, and there are thousands–fuck, millions of girls in the world. You can't honestly believe that you've met the one you're meant to be with so soon. Especially not someone like me."

Naruto felt himself getting just as angry as she was about this. It was like she'd never looked in the mirror. Or maybe she wanted to end things but didn't want to be the one to do it. "Are you serious? Tayuya-chan, you could walk up to any guy in Konoha and have him begging on his knees for you. _Any _guy. If anyone should be worried, it's me. You're beautiful." When the redhead turned her head away from him, he gently grabbed her chin and forced her to look him in the eyes. "You're beautiful," he reiterated. "I don't know what's going to happen in the future. No one does. But right now, I can only see you in it."

Smiling slightly at him, she leaned her head against his shoulder. "I hate you so much."

Naruto smirked back. "I know."

* * *

The group got up bright and early to continue their trek to Konoha, and after a few hours of jumping through the trees, they could see the tall walls of the village growing closer and closer with each leap.

The gates of Konoha looked both familiar and alien to him as they approached on foot, and surprisingly, Naruto felt like turning around and running away. He'd gotten used to not being looked down upon every time he stepped outside, and going back to that was something he wasn't sure he was ready for. Which was funny considering he'd just talked to Tayuya a couple of days ago about his responsibilities to this place.

Three years. He'd been gone for three years, but it'd passed by in a flash.

He squeezed Tayuya's hand, taking comfort in how calm she seemed with the whole situation. Or maybe she was just resigned to her fate. Still, even if everyone else hated him, he had her. She was the one person he could count on no matter what, and really, that's all a person needed in life.

"Ready?" he whispered, taking her hand in his.

She smiled up at him, trying to appear braver than she felt. "Let's do this shit."

**AN: And that's the end of Part 2. Holy fuck. Fair warning: I'm not going to do things you like in Part 3. THIS STORY DOES NOT FOLLOW CANON! I will be taking some plot points and characters, but by and large, this is a completely different beast. Things will not happen like you expect them too. I feel like I can't stress this enough since I will undoubtedly get PMs asking where certain characters/events are.**

**I also just realized why there've been so many spelling errors lately. I updated my operating system, and the program I write in (Regular ol' TextEdit because it's not distracting like Word) must've been updated too. THANKS FOR NOTHING AUTOCORRECT. I turned it off halfway through the chapter, so hopefully the errors decrease.**

**One more part left. Let's hope it doesn't take three years to finish.**


	39. Chapter 39

**The Melody of the Fox**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 39**

Naruto and Tayuya walked purposefully into Konoha, heads held high and hands gripping each others' tightly. They were nervous and afraid, but they were also excited. Excited to see what life had in store for them next, and excited to finally be home after three long years of travelling–Naruto more so than Tayuya.

They passed a couple of familiar looking jounin on the way in, and one of the jounin, a man with a senbon hanging out of the corner of his mouth, did a double take. "Hey, was that––"

"Yeah, it was! But who's the babe?" His partner asked under his breath.

The first man raised his eyebrows. "She looks a bit young for you, don't you think?"

"Hey, as long as she's 16, she's fair game," the second jounin shrugged.

His partner paused as he realized that he was right, and they shared a curious stare before climbing over each other to get a second look. Unfortunately, the group had already disappeared into the crowd of civilians milling around the entrance.

Twenty yards away, Naruto had no idea that other guys were checking out Tayuya's ass as he looked around at all of the new structures that had popped up in the three years he'd been away. It seemed like all of the damage from the joint Sand and Sound invasion was completely gone, and the village never looked better. Even the people seemed more friendly and upbeat, though it was possibly because they didn't recognize him.

"Hey, Ero-sennin, does anyone know we're coming back today?" Naruto asked, looking up at Jiraiya.

The man shook his head. "Besides Tsunade? I doubt it, unless she's told anyone."

A wide grin spread across Naruto's face. "Perfect."

He bent down and whispered in Tayuya's ear, and not even a second later, they simultaneously henged into a pair of relatively unassuming civilians. "Wouldn't want anyone to see me just yet," he explained.

"Smart idea, but if they see me and Jiraiya, the jig will probably be up." When the two teenagers stared expectantly at her, Anko rolled her eyes. "Oh, fine," she sighed, henging herself into an old woman. "Think of this favor as an early wedding gift." She smiled when she saw both genin stiffen uncomfortably. They were so pathetically easy to tease, and she'd definitely miss this part of being around them.

After receiving pleading stares from his companions Jiraiya did the same to complete the circle, and the four travelers headed up to the Hokage tower in the middle of the village.

"Name and business?" a chuunin guard asked when they arrived, eyeing them all suspiciously. It wasn't everyday that a group of civilians wanted to see the Godaime.

"Jiraiya, here to see the Hokage."

The man narrowed his eyes, slowly reaching towards his weapon pouch. "You're not Jiraiya."

"Oh. Right." The sannin waved his hand and removed all of their henges since they were already inside the building. Instantly, the guard's eyes widened.

"You're––"

"Keep it down, would you? This is an S-ranked secret. No one can know we're here yet. Understand?"

The man nodded, eyes still wide with surprise as he quickly ushered them up the stairs.

Far too eager to see the woman he'd come to think of as a sort of a mother, Naruto broke out into a sprint and scaled the spiral staircase, leaving the rest of his group dumbfounded in his wake. He brushed past the secretary, kicked open the doors, and with a huge grin, yelled at the top of his lungs. "Ooooiiii, Baa-chan! I'm back!"

Before the words were even out of his mouth good, he found himself wrapped up in a bone crushing hug. "Naruto! Look at you! You're so big!" she exclaimed. Her eyes shifted to Tayuya as the girl approached from behind him, and reaching one arm out, she pulled her into the embrace along with Naruto. "And look at _you_! You're a regular knockout! Shizune! Get in here!" she bellowed, voice carrying throughout the tower.

A haggard, slightly annoyed Shizune rushed into the room, panting heavily as she struggled to regain her breath. "Yes, Tsunade-sama?" Her ire was quickly replaced with unhidden glee once she saw who else was in the office. "Naruto-kun! Tayuya-san!" She too grabbed them for a hug, but thankfully, it was nowhere near the strength of the Godaime's. "When did you get in? How was your trip? You two look exhausted, are you thirsty? Hungry? Oh, I'm so happy you two are back safe and sound!"

Naruto and Tayuya looked at each other with surprise. They hadn't quite expected this level of greeting, and their grins split their faces as Tsunade once again hugged them–thankfully much gentler this time. It was worth coming home just for this, and suddenly, they weren't so anxious about being back.

"Now that that's out of the way," Tsunade started, letting them go and wiping the elated smile off of her face, "Each of you will need to submit a ten foot summary of your entire trip by next week."

Naruto's jaw dropped. "Wha––"

"Are you serious?!" Tayuya angrily chimed in. All of her plans for Naruto this week were basically ruined now.

The woman smiled and rolled her eyes. "Of course I'm joking. Only Anko and Jiraiya have to do that." Both adults groaned as they entered the room having finally climbed the stairs at a normal pace. They instinctively knew there'd be no 'just kidding' for them. "Oh, but you really do have to demonstrate what you've learned. Kakashi will be testing your skills along with Sakura sometime this week."

As if the mention of her name had summoned her, Sakura appeared in the doorway, one hand hiding behind her back. "Tsunade-sama? Why were you yelling? Why is your door open?" The kunoichi stopped dead in her tracks as she laid eyes on a handsome blond standing in front of her mentor.

Her first thought was that he was gorgeous. His long blond hair hung down a little past his ears, and his bright blue eyes were piercing as they gazed into hers. She could practically see the lean muscles rippling underneath the thin black shirt he wore, and it wasn't until she saw the whisker marks on his cheeks that she realized the boy she was staring at was none other than Naruto. No wonder Tsunade never showed her photos; she obviously wanted her to be surprised. Without his signature orange jumpsuit, he was barely recognizable.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" He grinned. He barely had a chance to move before she too tackled him, hugging him strangely as tight as Tsunade had. He didn't know how she'd gotten so strong, but he instinctively knew that couldn't be a good thing for him.

Tayuya's face morphed into disgust, though luckily, they were all too busy smiling like idiots at Sakura and Naruto's reunion to see her expression. As soon as she let go of Naruto, Tayuya slipped her hand into his, pulling him closer to her side.

Noticing this, the pink-haired kunoichi smiled sheepishly at her. "Oh, Tayuya, right?" Sakura asked. "I hope Naruto wasn't too much trouble. He can be kind of a knucklehead," she said, rapping him lightly on the head with her knuckles.

Naruto grabbed at the spot she'd hit and scowled. "Hey!"

Tayuya watched their interaction with a little bit of shock. Oddly enough, she didn't detect much threat from Sakura. Perhaps she'd been wrong about what kind of person Sakura. In her defense, she hadn't had much to go on except for Naruto's word and her brief confrontation with her in the hospital three years prior. She allowed herself to relax a bit, even managing to crack a grin. "Of course he was trouble. He's Naruto."

Everyone laughed at her statement, even Naruto who was trying in vain to maintain his pout.

Tsunade waved her hand to quiet them down, still struggling to stifle her own laughter. "You know what? Let's save this talk for later. We're all going out for dinner tonight, Hokage's treat. Get out of here and get settled, you two. Anko, Jiraiya, stay here."

Naruto didn't have to be told twice. He had big plans now that they were back, and he fully intended to follow through with them. "Awesome! Come on, Tayuya-chan, we have important stuff to do!" Their hands were already connected, so he pulled her along with him out the door.

Sakura jogged after them. "Wait for me! I'm coming too!"

Ten minutes later, Tayuya stared up at the familiar building and sighed loudly. Of course the first place he'd want to go to is Ichiraku Ramen. The only reason she didn't complain was because she sort of liked the place too. He'd told her all about what the restaurant had done for him as a kid, and she couldn't help but feel a large amount of gratitude towards the owner and his daughter for having a hand in raising Naruto.

"Old man! Three bowls of beef and two bowls of chicken!" Naruto shouted, hopping onto his favorite stool. He almost laughed at the shocked look on Ayame's face as she whipped around to see who'd spoken.

The woman rushed around the counter and grabbed him, giving him his fifth hug of the day. For Tayuya's sake, he tried not to look like he was enjoying it too much. "Look at you, you're taller than I am now! And so handsome!" Still hugging him, she turned her head to call into the restaurant. "Dad! Naruto's back!"

If he thought Ayame's expression was funny, Ichiraku's was downright hilarious. His eyes were open wide, a rarity since they always seemed to be closed into slits, and his hat sat askew on his head. Naruto's heart swelled at how happy they seemed to see him. His cynical side that they just missed the thousands of yen he dropped here a month, but his more reasonable side called him a dumbass for even thinking something so horrible.

"Naruto! Good to see you, boy!" he laughed, reaching over the counter to pat him on the back. "Lunch is on me today! Eat as much as you like! Three beef and two chicken, right? What will your girlfriends have?"

"Beef," Tayuya mumbled, trying not to show her anger as she slid into the seat on Naruto's left. Girl_friends_? What the fuck was that shit? And why wasn't Naruto saying anything? She decided to let it slide this time since he was probably too busy grinning like a lunatic to hear correctly, but next time she'd pop him one for sure if he didn't correct him.

Sakura took t he seat to his right, rolling her eyes at being referred to as his girlfriend. "Vegetarian."

As Teuchi turned around to prepare their soup, Naruto didn't think it was possible for him to smile any wider. How could he have ever doubted the fact that they really cared about him? Tons of stores and restaurants had refused his business because of who he was, even if they were struggling.

"So, Naruto, how was the trip? Did you learn anything new?" Sakura asked, leaning forward with interest.

"I learned tons! You'll see all of my amazing skills when we fight Kakashi-sensei!" he cheered, pumping a fist into the air. "What about you? You look really strong!" His eyes widened slightly as he realized how bad his words had sounded. "I mean, not like muscly, but uh, you know. Strong!"

His teammate laughed at his fear, shaking her head at how similar he seemed on the inside despite how great he looked on the outside. "I've been training under Tsunade-sama. She's been teaching me a lot about medical ninjutsu and how to better control my chakra."

"So you're a medic-nin? That's awesome! You're really smart, so that suits you!"

"Thanks, it's just great to find something that I'm actually good at," Sakura laughed. "I've always been really book smart and had great chakra control, so it was a natural fit I think."

Tayuya frowned slightly, ignoring Sakura in favor of staring at Naruto. He hadn't so much as glanced at her since they'd arrived at the restaurant, and it sort of bugged her. She wasn't upset, but she was so used to having all of his attention that sharing him was going to take some getting used to.

"What about you, Tayuya? What's your skill set?"

Surprised that they even remembered she was there, Tayuya shrugged disinterestedly. "I'm a genjutsu user mostly, but I'm also good with traps."

Naruto scoffed. "_Good?_ She's amazing!"

"Really? Neat. Maybe you can teach me some tricks."

Tayuya faked a smile. "Yeah, sure." As if. She'd rather stab herself through the heart with a dull kunai.

"You know, you're a lot nicer than you were when you left," the pink-haired kunoichi mused, leaning around Naruto to look at her.

"Yeah, well, you're a lot less annoying." She hadn't meant it as as compliment, but the way Sakura smiled told her that she'd taken it as one.

Luckily she didn't have to pretend to care about their conversation anymore since Ayame and the owner appeared with four steaming bowls of noodles. Ayame set down two of the bowls in front of Tayuya and Sakura while the chef himself delivered the remaining two to Naruto.

With a loud 'Itadikimasu!', Naruto picked up his chopsticks and dug in. He slurped down his noodles at full speed, the happiest smile appearing on his face since the first time they'd admitted to liking each other. "I missed this place so much! No one beats Ichiraku's!"

Teuchi poked his head out from behind the curtain. "And don't you forget it!" he shouted, waving his ladle at the teens. As soon as he disappeared into the kitchen, his daughter hurried back over to talk to them.

"So," Ayame smirked, leaning on the counter towards Naruto and Tayuya. "Are you two together yet?"

She couldn't stop a smile from appearing on her face, and she noticed that he was wearing a similar one. "Yep," she said, leaning her head on his shoulder for a few seconds. It was the first real amount of affection she'd shown him since they arrived in Konoha-mostly because it still felt weird for her to be so open about their relationship.

Ayame looked positively ecstatic, even jumping up and down a little bit. "See? What did I tell you!"

A little surprised by her reaction, Naruto tilted his head, confused. "Wait, what? When did you tell her anything?"

The girls exchanged a mysterious glance. He'd apparently forgotten all about Ayame pulling her aside before they'd left Konoha three years ago. "It's a secret. Right, Tayuya?"

"Sorry, Naruto. Maybe you can persuade it out of me later." He took one look at the expression on her face and gulped. The way she'd said it had sounded innocent to the casual observer, but the fire in her eyes clearly told him what he was in for. He didn't know whether to be excited or afraid.

Since Sakura had to get back to work, they decided to head home to drop their stuff off, get a little shopping done, and relax a bit before the night's events. There was no telling when the dinner would end, and neither of them wanted to be falling asleep at the table.

They got about halfway to the apartment before Tayuya couldn't take it anymore. "Why were you acting like that?" she asked, crossing her arms and looking up at him.

Confused, Naruto met her gaze. "Like what?"

"Like...how you used to act. Stupid. Loud. Annoying. Fake."

The blond shrugged. "I guess it's just habit. I've always been that way to people that know me, and I don't know how they're gonna react if I'm suddenly different."

"Well, you don't have to act like a dumbass anymore. You're strong enough that you don't have to make people underestimate you." When he avoided her gaze and shrugged again, she sighed. Well, maybe it was for the best. If other girls knew he had a brain under that blond shag of his, they might be tempted to steal him.

And she wasn't just being self conscious. Since they'd been in Konoha, Naruto hadn't gotten one mean look. Not one. She was vaguely disappointed since she'd been looking forward to knocking some heads, but if he was happy, so was she. She could definitely do without the women staring at him like they'd never seen a man before, though.

He jogged up the stairs two steps at a time, eager to get home. He then shoved the key into the lock, pushed open the door, and took a deep breath. "I'm back!" he yelled into the apartment, pleased by the slight echo that followed. He ran into the apartment, threw his bag on the ground, and flopped down on the couch, letting loose a loud sigh. "Home sweet home!"

Tayuya followed at a slower pace, looking around the apartment to see what they'd need before they left to go shopping. The room was surprisingly clean considering they'd been gone for three years, so they wouldn't need to buy many cleaning supplies right away. They needed curtains since they didn't have any in any of his rooms, and she figured the rooms could use some rugs for basic decoration. They'd also need a bookcase and a dresser or chest for her clothing since she didn't just own two shirts and a pair of pants anymore. The place was a lot smaller than she remembered, but it was still perfect for the two of them.

"Ne, ne, Tayuya-chaaaan! I don't feel good!" Naruto groaned from the couch.

"Really? Why?" When she dropped her pack and went over to check his temperature, he grabbed her arm and pulled her down on top of him, lips twitching upwards as he saw the surprised look on her face.

"Because you weren't next to me."

Tayuya laughed and rolled her eyes. "God, that was so cheesy." Even though she said that, she leaned in and planted a soft kiss on his lips. "That's all you get for right now. We have too much work to do." She slid off of his lap and stood up, reaching for his arm and pulling him up with her. "What's the best store to pick up home goods from?"

"There's a place down the street that's good I guess. The owner never overcharged me there as far as I know."

"Then that's where we're going." She checked to make sure she had some cash and headed towards the door, still gripping him by the arm.

As soon as she opened the door, she saw a very familiar pair of eyes staring back at her. A pair of eyes that she instantly wanted to jam her fist into. Remembering how nice Sakura had been, she decided to give Hinata the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she'd matured and realize that Naruto was off limits, too. "Hi. What do you want?"

Hinata's face dropped into a brief scowl, but once she saw a flash of blond behind Tayuya, she instantly put on a bright smile. "Is Naruto-kun here? I heard he came back today."

Tayuya was about to say something smartass, but she was somewhat rudely pulled out of the way by Naruto. "Hey, Hinata-chan! You look so different!"

The girl froze, mouth falling open as she laid eyes on him. Years of practice were instantly wiped away, and she quickly slid her eyes to her feet. "Y-Y-You too, N-Naruto-kun."

In all her wildest fantasies, she hadn't expected him to look so fucking good. All this time she'd been picturing that thirteen year old Naruto in the bright orange jumpsuit, but this current version was way too much for her to handle. His eyes stared intensely at her, to the point where she could feel it on her face. Against her will, she began to twiddle her fingers.

At least until she noticed Tayuya's arm around his waist.

Her first reaction was to jump forward and rip Tayuya's hair out, but with him standing there, staring at her with those blue eyes and wide smile, she felt paralyzed. She couldn't even speak let alone attack her. It was just as well; Naruto probably wouldn't have liked that very much.

"Well, if that's all, we were just about to leave," Tayuya said, not so subtly telling her to get lost.

Hinata felt her anger flare up. Just who did she think she was? Did she really think she'd let her leave with Naruto? Unfortunately, the words that came out of her mouth were significantly different. "O-oh, okay."

"The Hokage's throwing us a party tonight! You should come and invite everyone else!" Naruto smiled.

Somehow, she managed to smile back, raising her eyes just enough to meet his for a second. "A-a-ah, o-okay."

"Great! See you there!"

It was then that Tayuya pulled him out of the door and closed and locked it behind them. "We've got things to do. Bye." They brushed past her and headed down the stairs, Naruto shooting her one last grin over his shoulder.

Hinata clenched her fists as she watched them go. God, she was weak. She'd had a chance to win him back and she froze. If she could barely even talk to him, how could she expect to win? She was just going to have to suck it up and try to talk to him tonight. She glared down at Tayuya's back.

Stupid redheaded bitch. She'd misjudged them both, but now she knew for sure what she was up against. It was only a matter of time until she got him.

An entire block away, Tayuya was thankfully unaware of Hinata's plotting as she listened to Naruto give her a basic rundown of the neighborhood. She didn't remember much about the area since she'd only lived with him for a few days before they left, but she was definitely paying attention now while he pointed out all of the different shops and restaurants that were, as he so eloquently put it, not run by assholes. They'd barely made it another block before running into someone else they both knew.

"Naruto!" The boy called, lifting a lazy hand in their direction.

In direct contrast to his friend, the blond waved back excitedly. "Shikamaru!"

Actually excited to see him, Tayuya grinned. "Pineapplehead!"

"Troublesome woman! When'd you two get back?"

"This morning! Hey, do you wanna have dinner with us? The Hokage's treating!" Naruto exclaimed.

Shikamaru instantly nodded his head. "I'll be there. Should I invite anyone else?"

If it were possible, Naruto's grin widened. "Everyone!"

"I'll spread the word. Once I tell Ino, there won't be a person alive or dead who won't know you're back," he joked.

"Thanks, it's gonna be great!" Naruto glanced down at Tayuya and noticed the somewhat impatient look on her face. "Well, we gotta go buy some food and stuff. See you tonight!"

As they continued past each other, Tayuya leaned in close to the Nara. "Temari says hi," she whispered, a knowing, lascivious smile on her face.

Shikamaru's face paled, and that was all she needed to know about their relationship. How he thought he could hide a secret like that from anyone was beyond her, but she wasn't going to be the one to expose him. She was trying to be a good person, and having his blood on her hands after Gaara murdered him would probably be a step in the wrong direction.

They'd managed to pick up everything they needed in a good half hour, and thanks to Naruto's shadow clones, she hadn't had to carry anything. Which was good since she really didn't think it was possible for her to take another step let alone hold a bag of groceries. She was relieved when they finally made it back to the apartment with their things, and exhausted from both their trip into the village and shopping, she collapsed onto their couch much like Naruto had earlier.

"Tired?" Naruto asked, putting away the groceries since Tayuya obviously wasn't going to help. The only reply he received was a muffled groan, and he smiled over at her. "Why don't you take a nap? We have a few hours until we have to be at the party Baa-chan's throwing for us."

She idly wondered when the dinner had turned into a party but shrugged it off. "Come sleep with me," she whined from the couch.

Naruto shook his head. God, she was adorable. No man alive could refuse a request like that. He slid onto the couch near her feet and put her legs in his lap, gently rubbing the smooth skin of her calves.

Unsatisfied, she tiredly sat up, grabbed him by the shoulders, and forced him to lie down on the couch. She then crawled on top of him, resting her head in the crook of his neck as she hugged him tightly.

"Comfortable?" he asked, lightly running his hands through her hair. He knew how much she loved it when he did that, and to be honest, he enjoyed it too. It was just so soft and fluffy–almost like his own.

"Mmhm." She yawned widely and closed her eyes, relaxing as she felt his heartbeat beneath her. In a matter of seconds she was out, body fully relaxing against his.

He watched her mouth fall open after a couple of minutes and felt like groaning. He was just glad he wasn't planning on wearing this shirt later since there'd undoubtedly be drool on it.

What seemed like two seconds later, Naruto's eyes popped open. He didn't know how long he'd been asleep, but it was suddenly dark outside. His eyes slide over to the clock resting on top of the television, and a second later, he cursed loudly.

"We're late!" Naruto shouted, frantically sitting up. It was then that he realized Tayuya was nowhere to be found. "Tayuya-chan?!"

To his relief, she appeared from his bedroom with a dark cloth hanging over her arm. "We're not late if we leave now. Here, throw this on," she said, tossing him a black shirt. She was already fully dressed, and in his opinion, she looked fucking amazing. She was wearing a simple dark red sleeveless top and a black skirt that fell mid way down her thigh. She'd somehow gotten a pair of black stockings, and her long red hair had been brushed so that it hung in loose waves around her shoulders. She even wore a bit of mascara on her eyes to give them more of a fox-like look. He licked his lips, already thinking about what it'd feel like to run his hands over the delicious curve of her ass. "Stop drooling and get moving," she grinned, pleased by the effect she was having on him. She couldn't imagine what his reaction would be if she'd worn that blue dress again.

"Uh, right." He pulled the t-shirt he was wearing over his head and slipped on the button up, smirking back at her as he watched her eyes glance over his torso. "Who's drooling now?"

"Well, it's your fault for being so hot. I forbid you to take your shirt off in front of any other girl for the rest of your life."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "And what if I do?" he asked, rolling up the sleeves on his shirt to get more comfortable.

Her eyes flashed with an unknown expression. "Then I'll just have to punish you."

As much as he wanted to inquire further, they were really cutting it close on time. "Well...we should get a move on," he mumbled, sliding his eyes away from hers. If she kept pushing him like that, he couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't blow the whole thing off in favor spending the night in Tayuya. In _with_ Tayuya.

Despite his urging she refused to rush, taking her sweet time strapping on her short heels. She even dragged her feet as they walked towards the market district, stopping every minute or so to look at something or ask him a question. It was, to be honest, getting pretty annoying. He knew she wasn't eager to meet his friends again, but this was ridiculous.

They finally reached the restaurant, but when he opened the door, the entire room was dark. He took a step outside to see if he had the right place, reading the sign above the door three times before poking his head back in. "Uh...hello? Did we get the wrong place?" he asked, turning to look at Tayuya who just shrugged back at him. He was just about to panic when the lights suddenly flipped on and he was met with the grinning faces of everyone he cared about in Konoha.

"Surprise!" they yelled, a few of them pulling the strings on party poppers.

Naruto literally jumped. "How...I didn't even sense you guys!" he exclaimed, forcing his heart to calm down. God, how did civilians live like this?

"I used a genjutsu to dull your senses while you were sleeping," Tayuya smirked. She could see the question on his face, so she answered before he could ask. "Sakura dropped by before you woke up and asked for my help. There was no way I could turn her down."

He smiled widely at her. That explained her dragging her feet the entire time. He didn't get the chance to reply as he was suddenly surrounded by his friends. They all seemed to be speaking at once, and it was a struggle to even see who was talking.

"Man, I can't believe you grew taller than me!" Kiba groaned, trying to straighten his back so that he at least matched Naruto's height.

Ino pushed her way in front of him. "You look good, Naruto!"

"It is good to see you again, Naruto-kun! You're looking as youthful as ever!" Lee shouted from somewhere in the crowd, fist shooting out of the clusterfuck.

Shino placed a hand on his shoulder from behind. "Welcome back, Naruto."

"Naruto! Over here! Let's see who can eat the most ramen!" Chouji mumbled around a mouthful of noodles.

Tayuya watched him smile and laugh with a tiny smirk on her face. Seeing him so happy made her happy, as cheesy as it sounded. This wasn't one of his fake ones, either. He was good at faking, but she was better at telling. Especially when it came to him.

They led him over to the large table in the center of the room, and she followed along behind them at a slower pace. She knew she should feel left out, but for some reason, she didn't mind. Maybe because she knew that no matter what happened, he'd be going home with her at the end of the night. She took a seat at an adjacent table, watching the action from afar with her chin resting on her palm.

"Sitting by yourself?" Sakura asked from behind her, grabbing the chair next to the redhead.

Tayuya shrugged her shoulders. "Naruto's having fun, so I don't care."

The medic-nin rolled her eyes. "Look, if you're gonna be dating Naruto, you need to learn to fit in with us sooner or later. Come on!" Ignoring Tayuya's protests, Sakura dragged her over and pushed her into the seat directly to the left of Naruto, easily shoving Kiba out of the way with one hand and ignoring his shout of protest.

As if someone had sucked the air out of the room, the atmosphere quickly grew quiet. Those who had been on the Sasuke retrieval mention stared at Tayuya with a mixture of shock and anger, and those who hadn't stared at those who had with confusion. As far as they knew, she was just some pretty redhead that Naruto had gone on a training trip with.

"Hey, you guys remember Tayuya-chan, right ?" Naruto said, grinning as if he hadn't even sensed the sudden awkwardness and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Yeah, we remember her," Kiba nearly spat, eyes narrowing. "We're just wondering what the hell she's still doing here."

Everyone–even Tayuya–was shocked when Naruto jumped to his feet, sending his chair clattering to the ground behind him. He shoved his nose into Kiba's face, forcing the Inuzuka to take a step back. "Tayuya-chan's a shinobi of Konoha now. If you have a problem with her being here, let me know and we can work this thing out right now." His voice wasn't particularly threatening, but the look in his eyes did nothing to mask the true meaning of his words.

For a good five seconds, no one dared to move or even breathe as they waited to see what would happen next. They knew Naruto could be intense, but never like this. If Kiba said the wrong thing, there was no doubt in anyone's mind as to what would happen next. Eventually Kiba shrugged his shoulders, glancing nervously at the group around them. "Hey, man, I didn't say I had a problem with her."

Naruto's face broke out into a grin. "Awesome!" He threw an arm around Kiba's shoulders and turned them both around. "Hey, can we get some food over here?!" The blond yelled towards the kitchen, seemingly oblivious to the incredulous stares he was receiving.

"Well, that was hot," Ino whispered to Sakura under her breath who nodded in agreement.

As much as Tayuya wanted to be upset by the comment, she had to admit that seeing Naruto get in Kiba's face had also turned her on a bit. She didn't want nor need him to stand up for her, but god did she like it.

Luckily, it didn't take long for the confrontation to blow over once the food came out and everyone started talking again. Most of them even came over to talk to Tayuya, which surprised her. She did her best not to be short with them, actually smiling and engaging them in conversation.

The ones who knew who she was kept asking things that were obviously meant to feel out her intentions towards Naruto and Konoha, but she didn't mind. Hell, she'd be doing the same thing if she was in their shoes, and she answered them as honestly as she could. She loved Naruto and couldn't give a shit about destroying Konoha so she didn't have anything to hide. His friends seemed to sense this as the questions became less probing and more casual as the night went on.

Soon she needed a break, so she excused herself from the main table and went to stand outside. The night air was cool on her skin after being inside for over an hour, and she let loose a loud breath of relief. There was no way she could do this every day, Naruto's friends or not.

She leaned back against the wall, staring up at the sky. She already missed being out on t he road. She could no long come and go as she pleased nor blend in with the general populace, especially not when she'd soon be known as Naruto's girlfriend. Every day she'd have to pretend to give a shit about people she didn't care for just so that it didn't reflect badly on Naruto. He was trying to become the Hokage, and she'd be damned if she was the reason he didn't meet his dreams.

Tayuya snorted at her train of thought. When had she become so fucking selfless? Sure, he could do some amazing things with those lips of his, but that wasn't why she felt so much pressure to be good. Being around him had been slowly changing who she was and she wasn't sure if she liked it. She wasn't sure if she disliked it, either.

"Taking a break?" A voice asked from her left, startling her a bit.

Her first reaction was to attack, but she quickly forced herself to calm down. They were in Konoha now, so of course people would come up and talk to her. "Yeah, it got hot in there."

"I agree. Too many people for my tastes." He moved a little closer and leaned down. "You're Tayuya, right?"

The redhead glanced up at the boy and frowned a bit. She didn't know why, but he was starting to skeez her out a little bit. "The one and only."

He smiled at her reply and Tayuya felt even more uncomfortable. "Are you happy to be back?"

Call her egotistical, but she could tell when someone was trying to chat her up. He was steadily moving closer and was using that low tone of voice guys tended to employ when they were being 'cool.' "Look, dude, it's not that this isn't fun and everything, but what do you want?"

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to get to know you a little more," he said, wisely backing up a little since she looked like she was going to hit him. Which she would've done if he'd continued to encroach on her personal space.

"Well, I'm seeing someone."

The boy smiled again and tilted his head. "Naruto-kun? You don't really seem like the type he goes for."

Tayuya clenched her fist, doing her absolute best not to get angry. He'd somehow managed to latch onto one of her larger insecurities about their relationship, and fuck did it sting. "Why don't you go ask him if you don't believe me?"

"Because I'm talking to you."

There was a brief, awkward silence as she allowed his words to sink in. He was definitely hitting on her, and while she felt a little flattered–the guy was sort of cute in his own way–she knew she'd be pissed if Naruto was talking to another girl outside alone. "Yeah, well, I'm going back inside...uh..."

"Sai," he said, smiling in that creepily cute way of his. In the moonlight, he looked almost as pale as Orochimaru.

Tayuya smiled back, although somewhat grudgingly. She opened the door and picked a seat near the back to hopefully get a little time to herself since it obviously wasn't safe outside. Annoyingly, no sooner did she sit down was she immediately pounced upon by a group of girls. They filed into the seats around her, each of them staring at her with unhidden curiosity.

"So, Tayuya," Ino smiled from her left, drink in hand.

The redhead looked at the cup and groaned. Great, alcohol. That couldn't be a great sign. She forced a smile onto her face. "Oh, hi. Ino, right?"

"You remembered! You remember Sakura, Tenten, and Hinata, right?"

"Yeah, I remember them," she said, glaring a bit at the Hyuuga who glared right back.

Apparently tired of beating around the bush, Tenten jumped in first. "Are you and Naruto dating?"

Tayuya shrugged. "Sure are."

All of the girls–except for Hinata–giggled quietly, trying not to alert any of the guys as to what was going on. They exchanged mischievous glances, and a second later, a strange pink drink was thrust into Tayuya's hand.

She didn't want to be rude, so she took a couple of sips to appease them before setting it aside. A move which she immediately regretted when she felt her head swim by the slightest amounts. Whatever it was was strong, and she was slightly worried that they may have slipped something else into it–maybe a a truth serum. Luckily she tended to sober up pretty fast, so at least there was no chance of her getting piss drunk.

"How long have you been dating?" Sakura asked, leaning forward from her right.

Tayuya shrugged. The more they realized how little chance they had with him, the easier it would be to keep them off his back. "A few months."

Ino smirked at her answer. "So...have you kissed?"

"Yup."

The girls giggled again, looking around at each as if they couldn't believe what she'd said. She personally didn't see what the big deal was, but then again they'd done more than kiss. A lot more. The only one who looked upset was Hinata, whose jaw was growing tenser by the second.

"Have you made out?" Tenten asked, ignoring the scandalized looks of her friends.

This time, the redhead cracked a smile. "Sure have." The more she spoke, the more proud she felt. She hadn't really noticed before, but she and Naruto were moving along pretty well.

She could tell the girls were getting a little more bashful about asking any of the more personal questions by the uncomfortable way they kept glancing at each other, and it was Sakura who worked up the balls to open her mouth first.

"Have you, uh...you know..."

To all of their surprise, Hinata was the one who jumped in to finish the question. "H-Have you had sex with him?" she asked, cheeks red but expression firm.

Her first impulse was to lie through her teeth. If Hinata knew that he'd been 'defiled' she'd undoubtedly give up and leave him alone. At the same time she felt like it'd cheapen their relationship, and the last thing she wanted was to make whatever they had into something it wasn't. "Not yet." The slight smile that appeared on Hinata's face pissed her off. As if she had a chance.

Sensing the slight hostility between the girls, Ino moved in with another question. "What's it like making out with _Naruto_?"

She was thankfully saved from answering by Naruto who suddenly appeared behind her. "There you are, Tayuya-chan! Baa-chan wants to give us something!" A second later he disappeared, and Tayuya gratefully stood up and followed him.

"Well, it's been swell," she said, trying not to sound overly fake. The whole 'being nice' thing was harder than it looked.

"We're all going out for lunch tomorrow, just us girls. Do you want come?" Ino suddenly asked, grabbing her wrist before she could follow Naruto.

She _really_ didn't want to, but since she was going to be living here for the rest of her life, she figured she should at least try to make some friends. Who knows? Maybe one of them would be as great as Temari. "Sure."

"Great! We'll pick you up around noon."

"Okay, see you then." She smiled slightly and quickly headed in the direction Naruto had gone, only to walk in on the Godaime yelling at her boyfriend.

"Naruto, when I said I was treating you to dinner, I didn't say you could invite the entire village," Tsunade seethed, bottle of sake hanging from her fingertips. If she weren't so happy that he was back, she might've sent him flying through the window.

Naruto just grinned and shrugged, grabbing a piece of sushi from her plate and shoving it into his mouth. "You didn't say I couldn't, either!"

"I didn't think it was possible, but you're an even bigger brat than you were when you left." She turned to look at Tayuya, an incredulous expression on her face. "How do you put up with that?"

Before she could answer, Naruto grabbed her and kissed her deeply. His arm slipped around her waist and pulled her closer, completely ignoring the whistle and catcalls coming from his friends. Her lips stayed pursed after he pulled away from her a full five seconds later, and on reflex, her hand reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt to try to pull him back.

"That's how," he said, hugging Tayuya against his side.

Tayuya couldn't help it. She glanced over at Hinata with a smirk, fighting the urge to full on grin. The look on the Hyuuga's face was priceless, so she grabbed his face and began to kiss him again, this time making a big show of pressing herself against his body. She normally found excessive public displays of affection disgusting, but in this case, she'd make an exception.

"Get a room!" Kiba yelled amidst the cheers and whistles of their other friends. It took a good minute, but Anko was eventually able to goad them apart by slipping a bowl of ramen underneath Naruto's nose. Unsurprisingly he quickly lost interest in Tayuya, much to her annoyance. She'd just have to take her frustration out on him later that night.

They continued to party for another hour, but once it reached one in the morning, they decided to call it a night. He waved goodbye to his friends as they all split up to go home and wrapped an arm around Tayuya's waist, leaning his head on top of hers for support on the walk home. He was exhausted, and if it weren't for the nap they'd taken earlier, he'd have passed out hours ago.

He plopped down on the couch with a tired but happy sigh once they got home. "That was fun! It was great seeing everyone, and they all love you!"

"I guess. But you know what?" she asked, sitting in his lap and slipping her arms around his neck.

The blond tilted his head. "What?"

"I think it's more fun when it's just the two of us and there are no girls fucking you with their eyes." The way she'd said it had seemed like sort of a joke, but the way she was staring intently at him told him she was serious. He wasn't an idiot; he knew she was more than a little jealous of all the attention he was getting from some of the girls they'd come across, but she was getting just as much attention as he was. She might not have noticed it, but he'd counted at least five guys staring at her ass when they walked past them on the way home. He should be the one acting jealous.

Still, it was sort of cute how upset she got about it. She was straightforward about a lot of things, and her feelings were one of them. This was one of the rare few times that she looked afraid, and the longer he was quiet, the more he could feel her fear. Even though he was tired, he leaned in and kissed her deeply.

She returned his affections with earnest, tightening her grip around his neck to pull him closer.

He slowly leaned her back on the couch until he was hovering over her, his larger body covering hers. His fingers playfully fluttered over her stomach, every now and then dipping towards the waistband of her skirt.

"I'm not gonna stop you," she murmured, light brown eyes staring into his.

He paused momentarily, a little surprised that she was giving him free reign. His hand slid under her shirt, crawling up her stomach until it reached her left breast. When she didn't say anything he slipped his hand under her bra until he was cupping her directly, the warm flesh in his hand sending nervous sparks throughout his body. His first time touching a girl's naked breast and it felt better than he could ever imagine. For some reason, he'd been expecting it to feel like warm pudding.

She sighed into his mouth, using her legs to hold him against her. She'd be lying if she said she didn't feel pressured to take things as little further. She knew for a fact that Hinata was gunning for Naruto and she had her suspicions about his other so called 'friends.' The only girl who she was fairly certain didn't want Naruto was Sakura, and that surprised her the most. Of course, it could've just been an act so that she could get closer before she snatched him away, but somehow she doubted that his teammate felt anything more than friendship towards him. Thank god Sakura fell in love with a psycho.

His fingers pinched her nipple, and suddenly Sakura was the furthest thing from her mind. "Good," she mumbled out. She gasped when he did it again, hips pressing up into his. It was something he'd never done before, and fuck was it driving her crazy.

Normally at this point they'd slow down a bit, but she was determined to make some progress for the first time in two weeks. Her hand traced the muscles of his stomach before slowly dipping into his pants, gripping him through his boxers. She took a few seconds just to feel it throb in her hand through the thin material of his underwear, but after a short while, she slowly began to slide her palm up his shaft.

Naruto broke away from her to gasp. It felt amazing. He'd done it himself a few times in the past–the first time by accident and the next few just out of sheer curiosity and boredom–but it didn't feel nearly as good as what she was doing to him.

He could feel a familiar pressure building up in his penis, and he knew what was about to happen next if she didn't stop. He reluctantly stopped kissing her to calm himself down and pulled her hand out of his pants. "Hey, who was that guy you were talking to tonight?" he questioned, thinking of the one question that could instantly kill his boner. It wasn't that he didn't want their relationship to progress, but he didn't want anything to happen while he was still unsure of a few things.

"Wha?" she asked, eyes still out of focus.

"That guy that was outside with you. You know, the pale one."

"Oh, him? I thought he was one of your friends." She tried to lean up and kiss him but he pulled back. "_What?_" she hissed.

"I've never seen him before."

Tayuya sighed loudly. She couldn't for the life of her understand why his lips weren't on hers. "Well, he brought you up, so what was I supposed to do? Be rude and tell him to get lost? I told you, I thought he was one of your friends."

"I know, I just–I don't know." He fully sat up, smirking when she groaned in protest. "I'm pretty sleepy." He hopped off of her to head towards the bedroom, leaving her horny and pissed off.

"Are you _serious_ right now?" she yelled, throwing a pillow at the back of his head. She wasn't at all surprised when he easily dodged it, but it still made her angrier. She honestly didn't see what the big deal was. They'd spoken for at most five minutes, and she'd instantly gone back inside once she realized he was starting to hit on her. As far as she was concerned, she'd done the right thing.

"Aren't you coming?" he asked, turning around at the doorway to their room.

She watched him pull his shirt off in an attempt to entice her, as if she needed any more encouragement. In milliseconds, she was on her feet. She pulled her own top off and tossed it onto the couch where she'd just been reclining.

"Fuck yeah I am."

**AN: Part three! Laying the groundwork for future stuff to happen. Going to bump the rating up as soon as I remember since we're venturing into lime territory. Don't want to give anything away, so I'd better not say another word.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing this! They make me so happy and tell me what I'm doing right and wrong. Seriously, I've only gotten better at writing because of you guys pointing things out (Notice I stopped with the internal monologue stuff and overuse of Japanese). The swearing hasn't gone down because of that, that's Tayuya's own personal growth. Although she still has her relapses. Tried to proofread, but got tired and just sorta skimmed, haha.**


	40. Chapter 40

**The Melody of the Fox**

**Chapter 40**

Tayuya slowly slid her eyes open, waking up completely on her own for the first time in months. There was no alarm or Anko shaking her awake to start training, and for a moment, she was worried that she'd over slept. At least until she looked out of the window to see the Hokage monument staring back at her and remembered that they were in Konoha. Their trip was over, and they could basically do whatever the hell they wanted from now on.

Yawning, she sat up and stretched. She was just in her bra and panties, and looking down at Naruto, she noticed that he was only in his boxers. They'd never gotten the chance to do much else since they'd passed out soon after disrobing and getting into bed.

She was still a little tired, so she happily laid back down next to Naruto and wround her limbs around him, smiling at how comfortabe it felt. His warm body and gentle breathing was lulling her to sleep all over again, and she was quite content to just laze the day away with him in bed. As far as she was concerned, they deserved the break.

She traced the hard lines of his stomach with her fingertips, being as careful as she could not to wake him. He always looked so peaceful while he slept. It was the only time he wasn't putting on an act for someone else or carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. He was strong but he wasn't invincible, and she wished more than anything that he didn't have to deal with so much bullshit. It wasn't fair that his life was so hard because of something he had no control over.

A knock at the door made her groan. Apparently she'd spoken too soon about lounging in bed all day. It was probably one of Naruto's friends wanting to shoot the shit with him, but there was no way they were going to cut in on her quiet time.

Tayuya eased herself out of bed and tiptoed over to the bedroom door, looking for something to wear. Naruto's shirt was conveniently still in the doorway where he'd left it the night before, and it was just large enough to cover the important bits of both her upper and lower body.

Shrugging, she pulled it on over her shoulders and buttoned it up. She ws just going to tell whoever it was to fuck off anyway, so getting fully dressed wasn't exactly a necessity. She stomped over to the door and threw it open.

"Yeah?" she asked, glaring into the bright sunlght coming from outside. Her eyes adjusted after a couple of seconds to see an unfortunately familiar group of girls gaping back at her. Their gazes constantly shifted between her face and her attire. Not that she could blame them.

"Uh...did you forget? We were going to grab lunch," Sakura said, still staring at her.

Tayuya's eyes widened slightly as she remembered the stupid promise she'd made the night before. "Oh, shit, yeah. Sorry, I totally forgot. Raincheck?"

"No, we'll wait." She was caught off guard when they all at once rushed into the apartment, taking seats on their chairs. She was more than a little annoyed by their rudeness, but to be fair, she _had_ promised.

"Well, give me like five minutes. Make yourselves at home," she added sarcastically, turning to walk back to the bedroom. She noticed that they were doing just that, brazenly looking around at all of their stuff. Typical.

Naruto was just waking up as she reentered the room, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Mornin', Tayuya-chan," he mumbled, sleepily getting to his feet.

She shot him a quick smile as she got dressed, pulling on the first items she could get her hands on. "Hey, sorry for waking you."

"It's okay, I needed to get up anyway." He stretched, muscles tensing. His eyes were still shut as he stumbled over to the bedroom door. "I'm gonna make some ramen or something."

She processed his words just as little bit too slowly. By the time she'd turned to stop him, he was already halfway out of the door. "Naruto, wait-"

It was too late. Tayuya slammed her hand over her face when she heard the girls scream from the living room, and not even half a second later, Naruto ran back into the room with wide eyes and a panicked expression. He was definitely awake now.

He quickly ran and jumped back into bed, pulling the sheets over his head so that only his face was visible. "What are _they_ doing here?!"

"I'm going out to lunch with them in a few minutes," she explained, running a brush through her hair.

"You couldn't warn me?!" he yelled, still hiding under the covers.

Tayuya rolled her eyes and pulled the sheet off of his head. "Sorry." She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. "Forgive me?"

Naruto sniffed indignantly. "Not with a kiss like that."

She smirked and leaned down again, grabbing his chan and pulling it up so that she could place a long, searing kiss directly on his lips. "How about now?"

It took him a few seconds to gather himself before speaking. Her kisses had a scary effect on him. "Well, just this once," he joked.

Tayuya walked over to the bedroom door. "I'll be back in a few hours. Be good," she warned, giving him a playfully stern look.

Naruto grinned back at her. "No promises."

As soon as she left the room to rejoin the girls, they stopped whispering amongst themselves to stare at her. Most of them look amused, but Hinata was glaring at her like she was something that had crawled out of a gutter.

"Ready to go?" Tayuya asked, already dreading this whole thing.

The girls giggled but stood up to follow her out of the door. Seconds after Tayuya had closed and locked it, the girls began to gossip. "When did Naruto get so _hot_?" Ino practically shrieked, gripping Sakura's arm.

Tenten nodded her head, exuberantly agreeing with her friend. "Seriously! Did you see his abs? Dude! I think his body might even be better than Lee's!"

Taken aback by the sudden burst of conversation, she was eventually able to calm down enough to address Naruto's friends. "Hey, that's my boyfriend you're talking about," Tayuya seethed, shooting them both angry looks.

Ino rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, it's just a little bit of fun."

"Yeah, lighten up," Tenten added.

Tayuya angrily tensed her jaw, leveling them with her most dangerous glare. "I don't fucking like it. Stop."

She knew she'd overreacted a bit, but they were all just so_ pretty_. Especially Ino. She was like a model or something-Tall, slender, long, pretty blond hair...and Tenten was no slouch either. Her large brown eyes sparkled with mischief, and though she was somewhat shorter and a little bit stockier than Ino, she definitely had a killer physique underneath her loose top.

She wasn't overly impressed by Sakura's looks, but it was easy to guess what Hinata's body looked like under her somewhat baggy clothing. She quickly tried to force her mind to think of something else since it felt weird to be thinking about the Hyuuga's large tits and flaring hips.

The point was, all of Naruto's female friends were far too attractive for her liking, and that was the main reason she'd agreed to this lunch. She'd wanted to gauge how interested they were in Naruto, even if that meant pretending to be 'a girl' for a few hours. It was just a good strategy to keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

The girls wisely backed off of the subject of Naruto's body. To be honest, they were a little bit afraid of her. They'd all heard by now who she was-or used to be-from some of the other guys. She was an unpredictiable anomaly, and even though she was _technically_ a shinobi of Konoha, they didn't know anything about her or what she could do. _Would _do.

"Where should we eat?" Sakura asked, not so subtly changing the subject. Tayuya didn't mind, though. As long as they weren't drooling over Naruto, she didn't care what the hell they talked about.

"How about that new tea place?" Ino suggested. "They have some amazing desserts."

They all looked at Tayuya for approval, so she just shrugged. "Yeah, sure, sounds fine."

While they walked to the restaurant, Tayuya couldn't help but notice a gentle buzz of conversation surrounding them. Guys were literally coming out of their homes to watch them walk down the street like there was a parade going on, and kids looked up at them with awe. It made her wonder if the real reason they weren't prancing around town together was for the attention.

"That happens," Sakura whispered, leaning over so only she could hear. "We get lunch at the same time every week, and after awhile, people just came to expect it."

It was uncomfortable having people stare at her like that. She knew she'd never be invisible what with who she was shacking up with, but she never thought she'd be exposed like _this_. Luckily they reached the restuarant and found seats near the back where they could be away from prying eyes.

"So, Tayuya, you showed up at the door wearing Naruto's shirt and Naruto comes out of the room in only his underwear. Anything interesting happen last night?" Ino teased, hoping Tayuya wouldn't kill her for being too nosy.

She got a faraway look in her eyes as she remembered exactly what she and Naruto had done. They hadn't gone all that far due to fatigue, but he had tried this new thing with his tongue that had sent weird, electric shocks to places she frankly didn't feel comfortable mentioning to them. "You could say that."

Tenten groaned and leaned her head on her chin. "I can't believe Naruto's getting more than any of us right now. I need a boyfriend."

"Um, hello? Neji?" Ino remidned her, wriggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"He's been gone for like a week now, and even if he was here he wouldn't want to do anything. He always says it's not proper." Tenten angrily took a sip of her water.

"What a waste. What about you and Shika?" Sakura asked, looking over at Ino.

Tayuya spluttered on her tea, choking so hard that Sakura had to pound her on the back before she died. That two timing son of a _bitch_! He had a perfectly smart, beautiful girl in Suna and he was trying to pick up _another_ blonde? It felt weird for her to care since it was really none of her business, but Temari was her friend. She'd confided in her that she really saw a future with Shikamaru, so she'd be crushed to know that he was banging someone else on the side.

Sakura noticed the look on her face and furrowed her brows. "Are you okay?"

"How long have you and pineapplehead been going at it?" Tayuya tersely asked Ino, completely ignoring Naruto's teammate.

They all laughed at her nickname for Shikamaru, much to her ire. She wanted answers, damnit.

Finally, Ino calmed down enough to say something. "Well, we haven't been. Not yet, anyway. But I'm breaking him down, I can tell!"

Tayuya felt herself relax slightly. Whatever it was they had seemed mostly one-sided. She actually couldn't understand why she was chasing a bum like Shikamaru when she was as pretty as she was. For that matter, she couldn't understand why Temari was so into him. Sure, he was pretty smart, but he was average in every other way. Or maybe she was just spoiled because Naruto was so amazing.

"You can do it, Ino!" Tenten cheered, hugging her lightly.

Sakura nodded her agreement. "Yeah, no guy can resist you."

"Wait, so let me get this straight. You meet up once a week just to gossip?" Tayuya asked, staring incredulously at all of the girls.

Tenten shrugged. "If you want to put it that way, sure."

A small smirk appeared on the redhead's face, and she took a long drink from her cup of tea. This was perfect. She could keep her fingers on the pulse of everything that was going on in Konoha, and even though most of it would most likley be garbage she didn't care about, there would probably be some useful nuggets of information in there. "I'm gonna like hanging with you guys."

The dark halls echoed quietly with his footsteps as he walked purposefully towards Danzo's chamber. He personally didn't understand why Danzo didn't make life easier for everyone and at least put a couple of torches up, but it wasn't his job to question his leader.

Sai knocked once on the heavy metal door, and a few seconds afterwards, he received a reply.

"Enter," a deep, raspy voice called from inside the room.

He grunted slightly as he slowly pushed it open. He couldn't help but wonder if the real reason Danzou made it so inconvenient to visit him was because he only wanted to hear from people who actually had something important to say, but quickly removed the thought from his mind.

The man levelled his one good eye on the young teen, looking unsually happy to see him. Well, happy for him. "Report."

"Hai, Danzo-sama." He swiftly stood to his feet, being sure to keep his head lowered. "I made contact with the target."

"And?"

"There was nothing out of the ordinary about her. She displayed a normal level of caution in regards to my presence, and she did not seem to possess any particular strength." Sai glanced up long enough to see that Danzou's frown had morphed into a sneer.

"Disappointing. And the Kyuubi?"

"My apologies, sir. I was unable to approach him due to his constant proximity with other shinobi, but I did notice that he and Tayuya seemed to have a special relationship."

"So she's his weakness?"

"It would appear so, Danzo-sama."

The man cracked a grin. His gaze was calculating as he looked upon his charge's visage, and suddenly a plan began to form in his mind. "Excellent. I have another mission for you."

Confused, Sai raised his head again. He didn't feel much, but he could definitely feel like he wouldn't like this new mission one bit.

"Naruto!" Tayuya called, opening the door to the apartment. "I brought you lunch!"

When he didn't come running at the mention of food, she frowned and walked further into their home, fist lightly clenched at her side. She didn't think there was anything to worry about, but she couldn't help but feel a little paranoid. She relaxed her stance when she stepped into the living room to see that he was only sleeping.

Naruto was stretched out face up on the couch, scrolls littered haphazardly around him. He looked so comfortable that she tried to sneak into the bedroom so as not to wake him, but he stirred and groaned lightly anyway. He'd always been able to sense her when she was nearby, so she didn't why she'd even tried. "Hey, Tayuya-chan. Back already?"

"What do you mean _already_? Naruto, it's like four in the afternoon."

Squinting at the clock on top of the TV, he groaned and slammed his head back onto the couch's armrest. "I was sleep for two hours?"

Concerned, she walked over to him and placed her palm against his forehead, leaving the food she'd borught forgotten on the kitchen counter. "Well, you don't _seem_ sick, so why are you so tired? You slept at least ten hours last night."

"I dunno, maybe cause I'm home and can finally relax without worrying about Itachi kidnapping me all the time. Anyway, look! I figured out the Hiraishin!"

Tayuya's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?"

"Sorta. I can't travel more than three meters with it."

"She excitedly gripped his arm, not completely believing his words just yet. "Show me!"

Grinning at her skepticism, he stood up and pulled her with him, positioning her a few meters away next to one of the kunai lying on the ground. He glanced at his notes and clumsily went through the seals, every now and then looking back at the scroll he'd drawn on to remind him of the order they needed to be in. He completed the sequence, and before she could even blink, he was behind her. "See?" he said, slipping his arms around her waist.

It took her a full second to react, but she eventually snapped herself out of her surprised stupor and turned to smile widely at him. "Oh my god, Naruto! Do you know how big of a deal this is? You just figured out one of the most feared jutsus in the world!"

Looking at the sheer pride in her light brown eyes, he couldn't stop himself from puffing out his chest a bit. She got so much more excited about his accomplishemnts than he did and he loved it. Sure, he'd been happy to finally figure it out, but she took it to a whole new level.

"I know! It's weird, though."

"What is?" she asked, finally calming down a bit. She brought her arms up and laced her fingers behind his neck.

"I just modified the seal i found on the kunai, and since they belonged to the Fourth..."

Instantly picking up on where he was going, she squinted her eyes and tilted her head a bit. In a certain light, he did look like the picture she'd seen of the Yondaime. "Do you think you might be related to him?"

Naruto only shrugged in response. "Might be, who knows. Anyway, I have to work on it some more to make it more attuned to my chakra, but in a few weeks I should have it so that I can teleport anywhere!" When she suddenly backed away and began to form seals, he curiously studied her hands. It was a jutsu he wasn't familiar with, so she must've just learned it recently. "What're you doing?"

Without looking at him, she slowly continued to mouth the seals to herself, struggling slightly to remember them. "Putting a genjutsu on the windows. I learned it from my family's scrolls a couple of days ago."

"Why're you doing that?"

She finished a couple of seconds later and immediately pulled her shirt over head and dropped her pants. Clad in only a pair of black boyshorts and a bra, she kicked her clothing into a corner. "That's why," she smirked, staring up at him.

He took a second to just admire her body as she stood in front of him. He didn't know how she maintained such a perfect balance of strength and femininity, but she was doing it. Her shoulders were a little broader than most girls' and she actually had a fairly pronounced six pack if she flexed, but he loved that about her. She didn't care how she looked physically and concentrated solely on getting as strong as possible. Her legs were especially strong looking, the muscles of her thighs and calves easily visible when she walked.

So that's why he was extremely disappointed when she simply plopped down on the couch and grabbed the scroll he'd been reading, crossing her legs underneath her. She barely got past the first line before the feel of his eyes on the side of her head was too much for her to ignore. "What?" she asked, noticing his pout.

"I thought you were undressing so that we could make out to help me celebrate learning the Hiraishin."

She raised her eyebrows and tried not to laugh. "No, I just took my clothes off because it's more comfortable."

Realizing that she had no intentions of having a little fun, he walked over to the food she'd left on the counter, grumbling the entire way. She was obviously more interested in the jutsu than him at the moment, and weirdly enough, he felt a little jealous. Of a _jutsu_. _That'd he'd figured out_. He shoveled a mouthful of noodles down his throat and smirked appreciatively. At least she'd brought him some amazing food to eat. "So how was your lunch? Did you like them?"

"Yeah, they're alright. Really gossipy, though."

"Do you, uh, think you could be friends with them?" he asked, trying not to look as eager as he felt.

Tayuya put down the scroll. She knew what he was getting at. He really wanted her to _want_ to stay in Konoha, and she really couldn't say no to those bright pleading eyes of his. "Yeah, probably."

He grinned and walked over with the container of food, plopping down next to her on the worn couch. Tayuya glanced over at him with a ghost of a smile on her face. As she read and he ate, the silence between them was comfortable. There was no pressure to speak or even acknowledge each other; just knowing the other was there was more than enough. If she could spend the rest of her life like this, she wouldn't complain one bit.

They spent the next few days lounging around the apartment and visiting Naruto's friends one on one. She'd never admit it, but she was a little pleased that they were all warming up to her. Kiba was really the only one who still seemed mistrustful of her, and as far as she was concerned, one out of the eleven or so friends he had wasn't anything to worry about. Yeah, she didn't particularly care what they thought, but she knew Naruto did. It sometimes even felt like he was bullying them into liking her, inserting little innocent threats that even she'd missed the first few times he made them.

Out of everyone Naruto knew, she'd been most interested in meeting Iruka again. Last time she hadn't known what the man meant to Naruto. She hadn't known that he was one of the first people to actually believe in Naruto and see him as the amazing person that he was. She'd been sure to be extra respectful towards him, cutting out her bad language completely whenever she spoke to him. Even though it was a little awkward pretending to be nicer than she was, it was fun learning things about Naruto from the people who'd known him for years.

Today wasn't going to be fun at all, though. That morning, Sakura had personally stopped by their apaartment to tell them that they had to get checkups now that they were back in the village. It made sense since they'd been all over the shinobi world and had probably been exposed to dozens of different types of foreign bacteria, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

She mostly dreaded it because she wasn't sure what they were going to say. As far as she was concerned ignorance was bliss, and the less she knew the better.

Naruto'd gotten his examination first and had come out with a clean bill of health and sucking on an orange lollipop. She'd had to roll her eyes at that. So much for breaking him of his infatuation with orange. He'd made plans the day before to visit with Neji since the Hyuuga was finally back in the village after an extended mission, so he'd left her alone at the hospital. Something that actually kind of upset her, but she didn't want to seem all scared and weak in front of him though he'd have problably stayed if she'd asked. He was just that kind of person.

"Come on in, Tayuya-san," Shizune smiled, poking her head out of her office.

Tayuya made a big show of dragging herself off of the hard wooden bench and slouching into the woman's office, making it obvious to anyone who happened to be watching that she wasn't looking forward to it one bit.

"Oh, don't look so glum. I'm sure you're in perfect health." The woman patted the leather examination table, the thin, white paper, crinkling noisily under her touch. "Hop on up and we'll get started."

As soon as she was properly seated, Shizune began running a bunch of the same tests she'd had to before she left. Eyesight, reflexes, grip-things that basically proved she was still a capable shinobi. She'd also had to go under a few more personal exams that required she be nearly naked, and she couldn't help but wonder if Naruto had been subject to similar tests. Even if it was Shizune, she didn't like the idea of some other lady feeling him up.

Still, the way the woman nodded after each test put the redhead's mind at ease. She didn't look concerned about anything, so maybe she _wasn't _going to die. After drawing what looked like an entire pint of blood from her arm, Shizune gently stuck on a bandaid and handed her a purple lollipop.

"I'll be right back, just need to run this up to the lab to make sure everything checks out."

Popping the candy into her mouth, Tayuya shrugged and leaned back on her hands with a sigh. Her eyes roamed the office, looking at the few pictures on the medic-nin's desk. She smiled slightly at one of Naruto, Shizune, and Tsuande. He used to be so cute. He still was, but in a much, _much_ different way.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw her file sitting on the table, and despite how afraid she was to look, she quickly hopped off the examination table and grabbed the folder. It couldn't hurt to see exactly what Shizune had been scribbling during her exam. There was a surprising amount of paper inside considering she'd been a shinobi of Konoha for just over three years, but after thinking about it a bit, she figured it was because of the whole 'bones crushed into powder and then put back together with a forbidden jutsu' thing.

She shuffled through a few sheets of boring data before finding what she was looking for. The first piece of paper had all of her latest stats on it; name, age, height, weight, body measurements-pretty much a pervert's wet dream. The second piece of paper was similar only it had her stats from right before they'd left, and the third were here stats from before she'd received the Sozo Saisei.

Her vision, hearing, sense of smell, grip strength, and reaction time had all improved greatly after getting the sozo saisei. She'd also gained nearly twenty five pounds, which would normally worry her if it weren't for the fact that she used to be skin and bones when she'd served under Orochimaru and now she was now pretty fucking ripped. The most annoying part was that she'd only grown around three inches in three years. Compared to Naruto who had shot up by at least ten, she hadn't done anything. It was hard to believe that once upon a time they had been the same height.

She skimmed the rest of the paper with only a mild interest. Nothing was that unexpected. Her strength was up, her boobs were bigger, she was fertile...

She almost dropped the folder in shock, and the only reason she managed to hold on was because she wanted to read it again. There must be some sort of mistake. The Sozo Saisei couldn't heal even that, could it? Kabuto had told her years ago that there was no chance she'd ever have children if she decided to let him start her on performance enhancing drugs, but she hadn't cared at the time. She still didn't, but god, if she and Naruto had had sex, she'd be _pregnant with his kid right now._

It took her a good few minutes of calm breathing to get her vision clear and heart beating normally again. For someone who simply hadn't thought about what it'd be like to be a mother, it was a lot to take in. She eventually relaxed enough to finish reading. As worried as she was about what else she was going to learn, she simply had to know what the fuck was going on with her body. Increased growth in hair and nails, sharper canines, increased healing factor, and...

Possible jinchuuriki.

This time, she did drop the folder. She'd known something was strange, but _that_...

She looked down at her stomach with a strange sense of detachment. Suddenly, so much of her time with Naruto made sense. Those weird stomach pains she got whenever Naruto used the Kyuubi's chakra, the fact that the jewel from the sozo saisei was purple rather than blue...

What else did they 'forget' to tell her? Why did they hide it in the first place? Was the chakra poisonous to her since she hadn't grown up with it like Naruto had?

The door opening gave her a welcomed reprieve from her thoughts. "We won't know for sure until we get your blood tests back, but I think you're in perfect health," Shizune said as she walked into the room. She set about cleaning up her tools while humming a happy little tune to herself.

Tayuya took a second to compose herself before speaking, not wanting to sound as angry as she felt. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

Confused, the woman turned to face her. "Tell you what?" Shizune looked down at the folder in Tayuya's hands and gasped. "Tayuya..."

"I have fucking demon chakra inside of me and no one thought it was important enough to mention?!" she seethed, giving up on trying to calm herself down. She'd never been all that good at it anyway.

Concerned about the girl's mental state she slowly approached her, gently taking the folder and setting it back down on the desk. "It hadn't adversely affected your health, and the Hokage thought it would be best if-"

"So she's the one who made the stupid fucking decision to hide something this important from me?!" The woman's silence confirmed her question. Roughly pushing her way past Shizune, she stalked over to the door with the intentions of getting some concrete answers.

"No, I-" It was too late. The door slammed shut as Shizune rubbed her forehead with her hand, already dreading the chewing out she was going to get from Tsunade for being so careless. Tayuya's file was especially top secret, hence the reason she was handling her check up.

The hospital was right next door so it only took Tayuya a couple of minutes to get down the stairs and over to the Hokage Tower. She sped through the front door of the Hokage Tower, completely blowing past the man standing at the door.

"Excuse me, do you have an app-"

"Shut up!" she screamed in the chuunin's face, eyes blazing with fury.

The man's jaw dropped, and the clipboard he'd been holding clattered to the ground. It was the first time that had ever happened to him in his three years of working at the Hokage tower, and to be frank, he had no idea how to react. By the time he moved to stop her with force, she'd already disappeared up the stairs.

She pushed open the large, wooden double doors of the Hokage's office and stomped over to the Godaime's desk. She felt momentarily intimidated by the sheer power that the woman seemed to exude, but her anger far outweighed her fear.

"Why the fuck did no one tell me that I was a jinchuuriki?!" she yelled, arms crossed tightly over her chest.

"Come in," Tsunade drawled sarcastically, glaring at Tayuya from over the report she was reading. A pair of thin glasses were perched on her nose, and she slowly pulled them off and set them down in front of her. She saw the chuunin guard approach from behind the girl to remove her, but she waved him off with a flick of her hand. Based on what she'd heard from Anko about the redhead's skill, he probably couldn't have done anything about her anyway.

Growing impatient, Tayuya huffed loudly. "Well?"

"Because you didn't need to know."

"What kind of bullshit logic is that? Who the fuck do you think you are to tell me what I need to know?"

The blonde frowned and put down the document. "Watch your tone."

Tayuya forced herself to calm down a bit. She was angry, but not to the point where she wasn't still somewhat afraid of the Hokage. She did sort of hold her life in her hands, after all. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked again.

"I felt that it didn't matter at the time. The Kyuubi's chakra had no adverse effects on your body, and I didn't want it to weigh you down with something that won't have any effect on your life."

"So just _when _were you planning on telling me?"

"Hopefully never." At Tayuya's astonished glare, she sighed and stood up, walking around to the front of desk and leaning back against it. "I didn't want you to be targeted like Naruto is."

As if by magic, Tayuya's face morphed from anger into worry. "By the Akatsuki? Why would they want me?"

"It's not just the Akatsuki. Naruto has more enemies than even he's aware of. Some right here in Konoha," the woman explained, choosing her words carefully.

She unfortunately didn't know that that was the worst possible thing she could've said to her. She cared about Naruto more than she cared for herself. "Who? Why are they allowed to even be here?"

Tsunade sighed again. "It's not that simple."

"Why isn't it? People want to hurt Naruto, so take them the fuck out!" As afraid as she was of having demon chakra inside of her, she was much more afraid of losing Naruto. It wasn't even completely about him if she was being honest. Things were relatively stable now, but if Naruto died, she'd have to once again start her life over. There was a very good chance that she'd never meet another guy like him, and she'd recently learned that she didn't actually _want_ to spend the rest of her life alone. Kissing, hugging, and just having someone _there_ felt way too good. She didn't have to rely solely on herself anymore, and that freedom of knowing someone had her back was something she was more than prepared to fight for.

The woman smiled at the fuming redhead. "You really are seeing Naruto, aren't you?"

"So?" Tayuya asked defensively. The question had come out of nowhere, and she could barely remember what she'd even come to see the Hokage about in the first place.

"Do you want to be with him?"

"What do you mean? I wouldn't be with him if I didn't."

"I wanted to make sure you weren't feeling pressured into something you don't want."

"Pressured by who?"

"By me. By _everyone._" At the girl's confused frown, Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Look, when I sent you on this trip, I wasn't just looking for information on Orochimaru. I wanted Naruto to have someone who could be like family to him. You probably know as well as I do that he's always been a loner even after getting friends. After seeing you two together though, I'm worried that maybe you were pushed into something you don't feel comfortable with."

Tayuya blinked. It almost seemed like the Hokage cared about her. Maybe that's why she felt reasonably safe asking the biggest question she'd had since she'd first arrived in Konoha.

"Why didn't you just turn me over to interrogation?"

Tsunade shrugged at the question "I don't really know myself. I suppose I saw something great in you. You were young enough to not have any permanent ideals, but old enough to understand that you were being given a real opportunity. We'd interrogated a lot of Sound shinobi after the invasion, and you just didn't have that blind, idiotic loyalty to Orochimaru that they did."

The redhead titled her head slightly, realizing that she was right. She'd always followed orders, but that was only because she didn't want to be offed. Hell, ever since she and the Sound Four had been abandoned in favor of Kimimaro, she'd actually started feeling some resentment towards Orochimaru. "But you didn't know me. I was an enemy of Konoha."

"I'll admit it was a longshot, but Naruto liked you. I don't think you understand how big that is. Naruto's friendly to most people he meets, but he seemed to honestly connect with you. I never could have forced him to stay with you after the first day; you know as well as I do that if Naruto doesn't want to do something, he won't do it. He stayed of his own volition."

Tayuya felt a little lightheaded at this information. She was certain that he'd wanted nothing to do with her in the beginning, but after a little thought, realized that she was being completely naive. The Godaime was right; Naruto was one of the most stubborn people she'd ever met. It would have been easy for him to ditch her, but he hadn't even tried. Not seriously, anyway. Even though he'd grumbled the entire time, he always showed up to wheel her around the village. Looking back, he'd been there for her since the day they met.

"If anyone can change a person, it's him.," Tsunade continued. "Your talent for genjutsu didn't hurt, either. That's actually how I sold you to the council. Ever since the Uchiha were annihiliated by Itachi, we've really fallen off in that area."

Trying not to smile, the redhead relaxed her shoulders and nodded. "I guess that makes sense."

"Great! Now that that's settled, what do you think of Konoha so far?"

"Honestly?" When Tsunade nodded, she took a deep breath. "I don't care for it. After the way so many of them treated Naruto...I just can't give a shit." Seeing the frown on the Hokage's face, the girl shrugged. "Sorry."

"No, I agree with you." Noticing Tayuya's shocked expression, she elaborated. "Just because I'm the Hokage doesn't mean I can't see the problems right in front of me. But you need to understand that these people have potential. They're weak and close minded right, but with a right leader, they can be so much more. I think that Naruto can be the one to change them all."

"You want Naruto to be Hokage?" she gaped.

"Well, I'm biased, but yes. I think he could be the greatest Hokage yet."

For the first time since she'd arrived, Tayuya allowed herself to fully smile. "Me too." Just as quickly, the smile dropped. "But I'm still fucking pissed you kept this from me."

"Fair enough. Keep it a secret for now; I don't want you being targeted as well."

"By who?" she asked again, hoping the woman would let something slip.

The Hokage only shook her head, letting her know that that was all she was going to get. "I'll tell you and Naruto more about what's going on with your body later. For now, you need to rest. You're fighitng Kakashi tomorrow."

Tayuya bowed her head slightly and turned to leave the office. She left feeling a lot better about the whole situation. It still bothered her, sure, but at least there wasn't any malicious intent behind them keeping it from her. Tsunade had even accidentally told her that Naruto didn't know either. At the very least she wasn't the only who who'd been left out of the loop.

It was then that she decided-even if something happened to Naruto, she'd stick around just for the Godaime. Sure, a lot of the villagers might've been assholes, but there were still a decent number of good people around. Naruto's friends, for example.

In a way, she had Naruto's mother's approval. Not that she needed it, but it made her a little happy regardless.

she felt exhausted walking the dozen or so blocks back to their apartment. Her emtions hadn't been that out of whack in awhile, and once she told Naruto, there was no telling how he would react. So that's why she made the decision not tell him at all. At least not until it became relevant. She was well aware of how hypocritical she was being, but she honestly didn't want him to deal with it until she was able to come to terms with it herself.

She shoved the key into the lock and took a deep breath. She was sort of hoping he was home since she could really use some comfort.

Thankfully, he was in the kitchen slurping down a cup of ramen. "Hey, Tayuya-chan! How was the check up?" He asked, grinning around a mouthful of noodles. His eyebrows furorwed slightly as he looked at her. Something had happened since he'd left her earlier that day. She looked tired, withdrawn, and a little worried. His mind immediately began to think of the worst case scenario, and ramen forgotten, he sped over to meet her at the door. "It went okay, right? You're not sick?"

Tayuya rolled her eyes at him and smiled. "Yeah, I'm not gonna die." His shoulders dropped in relief, and she leaned up and kissed him. He seemed surprised but quickly reciprocated, arms automatically wrapping around her lower back. He tried to pull back to ask her more about her check up but she insistently moved forward until his back hit the countertop. It was through sheer reflex that he missed knocking over his half eaten cup of ramen.

He was fine with her taking the lead-at least until he felt her hands hovering near his pants. "What are you doing?"

"Hm?" she asked, secretly annoyed that he'd already caught on. That didn't stop her fingertips from gently sliding along his front, though. She lifted one hand up to his head and pulled him back down to her lips, cutting off any further questions.

She finally let him go after a couple of minutes and grabbed his hand to lead him to their bedroom. Slipping her clothes off, she crawled into bed and pulled him in next to her. She tucked her head into the crook of his neck and just let everything she was feeling at the moment wash off of her. When she was with him like this, she always felt calmer. His arms wrapped around her to pull her closer, and he rested his chin on top of her head.

"What happened?" he asked more insistently.

She breifly debated whether she should come clean about what she'd learned but ultimately decided against it. He didn't need any more problems to worry about. "Nothing, why?"

His eyes met hers, unwavering in their determination to figure out what was wrong. "I dunno, I'm just worried about you."

She was only vaguely aware of the pounding feeling in her chest as she stared back into his concerned eyes. If he kept looking at her like that, there was no way she'd be able to keep it from. "Don't be."

She kissed him with so much intensity that every coherent thought left his mind. All he could concentrate on were her soft lips and the feel of her warm body against his. She was doing a really good job of distracting him, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Sighing inwardly, he shook his head and hugged her tighter. She'd tell him what was wrong when she was ready; he was sure of it.

**AN: I don't know guys! I'm toeing the line with the whole lemon thing! I'm trying not to give up on this story, don't worry! I get about half an hour a day of writing time usually :T Really hoping I proofed it well enough.  
**


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